HURON — Students in the Huron School District recently joined other schools, preschools, nonprofits, and local food enthusiasts across our state in celebrating Farm to School Month by participating in the South Dakota Crunch Off! South Dakota is competing against region states to determine who will be crowned the Mountain Plains Region Crunch Champion through having the most crunches into local produce per capita.

This Crunch event encourages healthy eating, supports and acknowledges local agriculture, and helps students and community members appreciate local foods and what a difference there is in eating fresh food.

The Crunch Off was held over a 4-week span, September 18- October 13, 2023. Buchanan K-1 Center crunched on fresh watermelon, purchased from Josh Larson, Woonsocket, SD. Madison 2-3 Center tried fresh kale, purchased from Plain View Farms, Bryant, SD. Washington 4-5 Center sampled red meat radishes and Huron Middle School tried Kale chips. Both of those items were also purchased from Plain View Farms.

Farm to School supports local growers and producers, and in partnering with them our school is able to provide items grown right in Huron and the surrounding areas. We have purchased honey from Albrecht’s Angel Honey, for use in our homemade breads for all students in our district. We are also doing some test baking with SD flour from Belle Valley Ancient Grains in Newell, SD. Beadle Conservation District has provided many fresh vegetables, such as sweet corn, tomatoes, cucumbers and strawberries, and many more items, for our salad bars and lunch program.

If you have questions about Farm2School, and/or are a grower/producer who would like to be included in this program, please contact [email protected]