Lakes Country Service Cooperative Collaborates to Bring Fresh Foods from Farm to School
Lakes Country Service Cooperative provides programs and services to a nine-county area in west central Minnesota.
The Fresh Connect Food Hub, a project of the Lakes Country Service Cooperative, brings locally grown, always-fresh food to schools, nursing homes and nonprofits in its nine-county service area, says Jeremy Kovash, executive director.
“We’ve delivered 100,000 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables to 25 participating institutions,” Kovash says. “Seventeen are K-12 schools, and the other eight are nursing homes or nonprofits that have food needs.”
Creating a Food Hub
The Fresh Connect Food Hub grew out of a community issue: Educators, families and community leaders saw a need for access to fresh ingredients in places where it’s all too easy to reach for a frozen, processed option.
“We worked closely for many years with food-service personnel to develop this program, from sourcing fresh food to nutrition education,” Kovash says. “In 2013, in partnership with the Statewide Health Improvement Partnership (SHIP), Lakes Country got the funding to start the Fresh Connect Food Hub.”
The Fresh Connect Food Hub operates on a seasonal basis and sources fresh food from 12 to 15 growers, most of whom are small growers within 60 miles of Fergus Falls.
In addition, Lakes Country Service Cooperative educates kids and food recipients on the importance of nutrition and locally sourced food. “We see so much enthusiasm when kids understand that the apple they’re eating might be from 20 miles away and delivered yesterday— it’s fresh, it’s never been frozen,” he says.
“We’re confident that we can grow this with assistance and more funding,” Kovash adds. “We’ve heard just wonderful things from our school districts and partners about this program, and it’s doubly so when kids and recipients learn how that food came from farm to table.”
“Fresh Connect Food Hub is an open book. Vibrant farm-to-school programs have a ripple effect in rural communities.”
Servicing Every Community
The Fresh Connect Food Hub brings fresh, locally grown produce to Lakes Country area schools.
Service cooperatives like Lakes Country tackle big problems for school districts, city and county governments and nonprofits around the state, from human-resources administration to payroll to wellness programs and health-insurance aggregation.
“We have been partners with the service cooperatives for 25 years or more,” says Julie Bergsten, director of public service at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota.. “They’re a great regional resource where employers and nonprofit groups can go for guidance on health programs, along with administrative and community-wellness projects.”
“We’re motivated to provide equity in programming so that our largest cities and communities are as equally served as our smallest,” says Jeremy Kovash. “Everyone should have access to quality programs and services.”
“Most of our ideas come from our members — an email or phone call from a superintendent or teacher or city clerk. So we start a program or service and see if it works,” he says.”
Building the food hub was a natural space for Lakes Country Service Cooperative because of its past work in health insurance and programs. “Our agency and staff has a very firm grasp on wellness, and we’ve done much of that work in partnership with Blue Cross,” he says. “We’re able to take Blue Cross’s expertise and knowledge and pass that along to our members. That’s been very important.”
Additionally, Lakes Country Service Cooperative and Blue Cross both have a tie to the Farm to School program, which connects schools with fresh, locally grown food. The Center for Prevention at Blue Cross provided matching dollars through of Minnesota Department of Agriculture grant for Fresh Connect Food Hub projects.
Growing the Hub
The immediate success of the Fresh Connect Food Hub has Kovash and the staff at Lakes Country excited about its prospects for growth. “First, we want to move beyond seasonal availability,” he says. “Hydroponic growing is slowly coming to west-central Minnesota, and we want to start working toward incorporating those foods into our offerings.”
“We’ve also barely scratched the need for professional development — we work with food-service employees on how to keep that food fresh, how to serve it, and how to introduce fresh ingredients into daily diets, but we can always do more,” he says.
The ultimate goal, Kovash says, is that the success of Fresh Connect inspires other organizations throughout the state to copy their model and improve the health of communities statewide.
“Fresh Connect Food Hub is an open book. Vibrant farm-to-school programs have a ripple effect in rural communities, and we want to have a positive impact on them for years to come.”