Michigan Students Eat Healthy Food from Nearby Farms Through Team Nutrition

Project Is Recipe for Success for Kids, Farmers

LANSING – Children in local schools around Michigan and nearby farms are benefitting from a project called “Team Nutrition: Recipe for Success.”

Ingredients for success include 46 schools, 18 school food service directors, and 25 small farms. Add a pinch of assistance from farmer liaisons who help schools and farms work together and prepare to serve a nutritious meal that’s fun for children to eat after providing training to food service program staff.

Partners in the Team Nutrition project updated State Board of Education members today on the success of the two-year grant that funds the efforts. The grant focuses on nutrition education events and activities for students and their families that feature locally grown food and that connect local farmers and school food service programs to serve more fresh produce to students.

“The Michigan Department of Education (MDE) assists local schools in providing children with healthy food that they enjoy eating,” said State Superintendent Dr. Michael F. Rice. “Team Nutrition contributes to Goal 3 of Michigan’s Top 10 Strategic Education Plan, to improve the health, safety, and wellness of all learners. Children need to eat nutritious food to be fully ready to learn.”

Dr. Diane Golzynski, deputy superintendent of the MDE Division of Business, Health, and Library Services, and Ms. Viki Lorraine, school district consultant in the MDE Office of Health and Safety, shared with State Board of Education members stories from local school officials about how students are more willing to try to eat something new if they know it comes from just a few miles down the road. If students like the new food, they may also eat it at home.

MDE has received the Team Nutrition grant every year for nearly 25 years, Golzynski said. “More than 10,000 children have been served through the current two-year grant,” Golzynski said. “That’s 10,000 children who are being encouraged to eat fruit and vegetables that are good for them, instead of processed foods. At the same time, the schools and students are also helping farms in their local communities.”

As one example, Hancock Public Schools in the Upper Peninsula encouraged children to eat locally produced food by involving the students in apple cider pressing and having them sample food during a squash soup festival and a salsa contest. In Flint Community Schools, food service staff have added fresh beets to smoothies. Children love the bright red color and eat in a more healthy way as a result.

Lorraine relayed a message from Ms. Shelby Turnquist, food service director in Hancock: “Tell them I’ve never seen my kids so excited about lunch.”

Lorraine said Turnquist tells local farmers: “Whatever you have, bring it to me and I’ll make it work in the cafeteria.”

The two current farmer liaisons for the Team Nutrition Grant are Jade Rabbit of Grand Rapids and Taste the Local Difference of Traverse City.

“The best part of this project have been the seeds of knowledge planted in the minds of our children,” said Ms. Alita Kelly, founder of Jade Rabbit. “When kids experience food from local farms, they learn to appreciate the connection between the land and their plates. This is an incredible example of how we cultivate a generation that values health, community, and the increasingly important role of sustainable agriculture.”

The current grant expires at the end of this month. MDE has applied for a new 2024 grant.

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