Farm to School

Nutrition Services supports farm to school through local food procurement, food and agriculture education and farm to school activities such as school gardens.

What are the benefits?

• Farm to school education exposes students to a wide variety of new foods and encourages adventurous eating.  Minnesota Thursday is one example of how local foods are incorporated into our menu. 
• Farm to school activities build community around the foods we eat and offer hands-on learning experiences that allow us to learn from each other.
• Farm to school procurement supports the local economy with our food dollars!

Learn more about the benefits of farm to school.

How does it work?

At Saint Paul Public Schools, local foods are requested through our vendors and procured through our annual invitation to bid (ITB). Produce is sent directly from the farms to a processing facility that prepares the items so they arrive fresh and ready to use at our schools.

For the 2023-24 school year, we are excited to be working directly with Hmong American Farmers Association, L&R Produce and Open Hands Farm in addition to the other local farms we are connected to through our vendors.

Minnesota Thursday

A long-running tradition in Saint Paul Public Schools. Typically landing on the first Thursday of the month, we offer locally grown products such as fresh fruits, vegetables, beef and turkey. We define local as less than 200 miles from Saint Paul.

Minnesota Thursday gives Saint Paul Public Schools the opportunity to partner with local farmers and producers and incorporate a farm to school approach into our menu. Stay tuned to our social media accounts for our next Minnesota Thursday where we highlight the local products and the farms they came from!