Supporting Local Farmers & Schools
Supporting Local Farmers & Schools. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Line On Agriculture.
School is back in session across the northwest and very shortly the fund raising will start. Anyone who has kids knows that the choices will be anything from magazines, to wrapping paper to who knows what. But a new idea is catching on and it is helping out not only the schools but local farmers as well.
JETT: They started this fundraiser, the healthy school fundraiser in 2005 and they had 14 schools when they first started and it continues to grow. Last year in 2010 they had 37 schools participating. And the idea behind it is each of the fund raiser items is carefully selected by the Idaho farmers and then the Idaho Preferred program which is a program under the direction of the Idaho State Department of Agriculture, buys the products directly from the farmers and producers and then the Idaho schools sell these products.
That is Skyar Jett, a marketing specialist with the Idaho State Department of Agriculture who says the products make a good alternative.
JETT: The money stays in the local economy while offering schools a different alternative besides the cookie dough and candy bars that are often used in fundraisers. It also kind of goes along with the schools trying to make a better initiative to make school programs like school lunch programs, classroom treats and all of that healthier.
The fundraiser items feature fresh Idaho apples, Idaho’s famous potatoes, and other locally produced specialty products and gift items.
JETT: We do a lot of soup mixes because Idaho has a lot of beans so we do a lot of lentil soups, we do mixed bean soups and gourmet mixes. We do, of course, a potato soup and a potato bread. We also do whole grain flapjack mixes. This year a new item - Idaho has started growing more spelt so we have a spelt package that comes with spelt cookies, it’s a healthier cookie because it’s got flax seed and the spelt and the whole grains.
Jett says they are also doing flax seed muffins and a wild rice mix as well which gives people a wonderful amount of choices. And as a fundraiser, the schools will benefit.
JETT: All items are sold for $12. The school gets a profit of that, that profit is $5. They pay us $7, the farmers get half of that and then the other half we do the delivery so it goes to the transportation. The more items they’re able to sell, the more money they’re able to raise.
And for farmers with products to sell, Jett says they are always on the lookout for something new.
That’s today’s Line On Agriculture. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.
