This month, nearly 21,000 students in Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa celebrated National Farm-to School-Month by crunching into locally grown apples at school, reports The Center for Rural Affairs.
The event was part of an effort to draw attention to Farm-to-School programs, in which school cafeterias serve food to students that is sourced from regional farms and ranches.
At Prairie Hill Learning Center in Roca, Neb., students munched local apples from nearby Union Orchard. Chris Eigbrett is the director of pedagogical support at the school. He says Prairie Hill has decided to make it a real priority to connect students with local food and agriculture.
His is just one of many schools making such a commitment across the South and Midwest.