The Thompson and Windsor-Severance school districts, along with two local charter schools, are among 32 recipients of Local Food Program grants that provide funding to purchase Colorado-grown, raised or processed products for school meals.
Thompson School District serves southern Larimer County, including Loveland and Berthoud, and has two elementary schools in southern Fort Collins. Individual charter school recipients include Colorado Early Colleges-Fort Collins and Windsor Charter Academy.
Districts and individual schools must apply for the competitive grants, and according to the Colorado Department of Education, which awards the grants, only schools that serve fewer than 2.15 million school meals per year are eligible. The award amounts are based on the number of school lunches served during the 2023-2024 school year multiplied by 5 cents or a minimum of $1,000, whichever is greater, according to an information page on CDE’s website. Approximately $500,000 is available through the program for the 2024-2025 school year.
Poudre School District, the state’s eighth-largest district with 29,914 students last year, served more than 2.3 million school lunches in 2023-2024, school spokesperson Emily Shockley said in an email Thursday, making it ineligible for the grant . Boulder Valley School District, the state’s ninth-largest school district with 28,362 students in 2023-2024, was the largest school district to receive a grant this year, according to a CDE list of recipients.
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Thompson School District has participated in the Local Food Program since its inception four years ago, Julie Winters, the district’s assistant director of nutrition, said Thursday via email through school spokesperson Michael Hausmann. The district was awarded $64,628 through the program this year, Winters wrote, and a commitment to buy local whenever possible will purchase an additional $46,000 in local food this school year.
The Windsor-Severance (Weld RE-4) School District will receive $25,581 through the program for the 2024-2025 school year, spokesperson Katie Smith wrote in a news release. The district plans to work with East Denver Food Hub to find local foods to include in the school lunch menu.
“This program gives our students access to fresh, nutritious food while supporting our local farmers, ranchers and businesses,” Maura Benton, Weld RE-4 associate director of nutrition services, said in the news release. “It is a great opportunity that will benefit our children, the economy and our local community.”
Connor Munford prepares green salads, prepared and planted by students, for school lunches at Colorado Early Colleges-Fort Collins on Tuesday, November 18, 2017. CEC-Fort Collins received a 2024-2025 grant from the state’s Local Food Program for funding from purchasing Colorado grown, raised or processed food for school lunches, according to the Colorado Department of Education.
Reporter Kelly Lyell covers education, breaking news, some sports and other topics of interest to the Coloradoan. Contact him at kellylyell@coloradoan.com, x.com/KellyLyell And facebook.com/KellyLyell.news.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Local schools receive grants to use Colorado food in lunches
