As the food service director of a small school district just outside of Flint, I know the incredible value of providing our learning community with healthy, nutritious foods made from fresh local ingredients.
That’s why our team at Bendle Public Schools is excited to be among the first recipients of a grant through the newly created Good Food for Michigan Project, which is helping schools, hospitals and institutions serve our communities more locally grown food.
The project is a partnership between farmers, institutions, food distributors, the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Center for Good Food Purchasing and Michigan State University’s Center for Regional Food Systems. The grant will allow our team at Bendle to build and deepen relationships with local producers who can supply fresh food for our students, teachers and staff. We will also be able to upgrade our kitchen equipment to expand our capacity to cook healthy meals made with real food straight from our local partners.
Preparing meals for students every day ― nearly 260,000 meals a year at Bendle ― offers a firsthand perspective on the benefits of providing fresh, local foods in our lunchrooms and cafeterias. That’s crucial for students who depend on school meals as a main source of nourishment. Fruits and vegetables that travel shorter distances arrive fresher, helping to retain nutrients and taste.
Benefits of the Good Food for Michigan Project extend beyond the cafeteria. Buying from Michigan farmers allows our school district to invest in local growers and food producers. That means more of our food budget stays right here in our community, benefiting farmers as well as our own small business community.
The Good Food for Michigan Project also gives Bendle Public Schools the tools to be a model for local food procurement for other districts across our region, allowing the benefits of this program to multiply and dramatically increase the volume of fresh, local food served in schools in Genesee County and mid-Michigan.
This program is truly a win-win-win. By providing fresh, locally grown foods we can improve students’ health while supporting local farmers and uplifting our region’s economy through more sustainable, resilient food systems.
Michigan students deserve a chance to enjoy more of the great food grown in the Great Lakes state. And our farmers deserve a reliable, local market for their crops. The Good Food for Michigan project helps bolster each of those goals — and the team at Bendle Public Schools is truly delighted and proud to be part of it.
Dawn Pully is the food services director for Bendle Public Schools.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Good Food is a win for students, farmers and communities in Michigan | Opinion
Reporting by Dawn Pully / The Detroit News
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