Farm to School Report in Minnesota

Key Findings

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Respondents from 69 Minnesota school districts reported that they purchased Minnesota-grown foods in 2009. This is up from approximately 30 districts when the initial survey was conducted in November 2008.


Nearly 44 percent of all respondents say they purchased ■■Minnesota-grown foods directly from a farmer or farm co-op in 2009. When asked to rate this experience on a scale of 1 (Trouble-free) to 7 (Very problematic), 75 percent of respondents gave a rating of either 1 or 2.

Seventy-four percent of all respondents purchased ■■Minnesota-grown foods through a prime vendor or produce distributor. When asked to rate their experience on a scale of 1 (Trouble-free) to 7 (Very problematic), 70 percent of respondents gave a rating of either 1 or 2. (Note that some districts purchased Minnesota-grown foods both from a farmer/co-op and through a prime vendor/distributor).

Thirty-five percent of respondents reported purchasing ■■food from Wisconsin, Iowa, North Dakota and/or South Dakota, most commonly Wisconsin.

The most commonly used local foods were apples, ■■potatoes, peppers, winter squash, sweet corn and tomatoes. The majority of respondents (ranging from 67 percent of respondents for winter squash to 94 percent for sweetcorn) rated their experience with these foods as “very successful.”

Among districts engaged in farm to school, 71 percent ■■reported purchasing between $1 and $10,000 of Minnesota-grown foods during 2009.

The top barriers to using more local foods were “extra ■■labor/prep time,” “pricing/fitting local food into budgets,” and “difficulty finding farmers to purchase from directly.”

Among districts currently engaged in farm to school, ■■76 percent expect to expand their farm to school programs in the 2010/11. None indicated that they plan to reduce their farm to school activities in the upcoming school year.

Considerable interest was expressed in increasing farm ■■to school educational efforts and growing food at schools.

Respondents placed a high priority on expanding efforts to ■■engage farmers/distributors, school administrators/boards, students, parents and teachers in farm to school initiatives.