PULASKI COUNTY, Va. – It’s the first year of the Farm-to-School program, and so far, three owners are participating: Kegley, Pratt, and Mountain View Farms.
Pulaski County School leaders are pleased to help provide healthier food choices in schools and at the same time, help stimulate the local economy.
“It’s really a privilege to take what we are raising and be able to send it right back in our county to let the kids of the county enjoy what we work so hard to produce,” Darrin Cullip, Mountain Views Farms Owner said.
Farm-to-School is an operation where local farms supply beef to the schools in the county.
Leaders say the opportunity to provide locally sourced beef in the school district became more of a possibility when funding became available through the Biden Administration after COVID-19.
While leaders couldn’t comment on funding for the program, they are pleased to see positive effects in the schools’ farmers also say they’re pleased the program helps them as well.
“Let’s take our money that we are being reimbursed and help our local economies. That’s where folks like Darrin and Mountain View Farms step in. One, we want to provide students we know the origin of, and two, we want to make sure our folks within our county have a reason to stay in our county,” Jessica Morrison, Pulaski County Schools.
Those farms provide ground beef, steaks and anything you can process off the cattle.
Farmers deliver the meat to schools in the county almost every two weeks.