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In This Section Section Home Our Food Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Menus Community Site Menus Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Menus North Gate Cafe Menu School Menus Special Dietary Needs Minnesota Thursdays Nutrition + Ingredients Recipes Smart Snack Special Dietary Needs Vending Vending FAQ Application + Payments Application for Educational Benefits Free School Meals LINQ Connect Meal Prices Payments Our Programs Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) Community Sites Community Site Menus Community Site Resources Serve No-Cost Meals Farm to School Community BBQ Fab Five Farm Videos Great Lakes Apple Crunch Harvest of the Month Local Foods Partner Farms School Gardens Toolkit True Food Farm True Food Waste Reduction Videos Wellness Active School Day Active Recess Healthy Eating Smart Snacks in School Healthy Celebrations & Rewards Hydration & Water Access Safe Routes to School Program Summary Arrival and Dismissal Biking Education Bus Stop & Walk Maps Pedestrian Education Safe Routes Network Walk and Bike to School Events Walking Bus 2014 Highlight Email news Winter Cycling Congress MPS Teacher Resources WBF Let's Roll MPS srtsVolunteer Wellness Policy Home Wellness Resources Vended Meals from MPS Employment Contact About Contact Us Staff Directory CWS Teams Sharepoint Search	Local Food Culinary & Wellness Services > Our Programs > Farm to School > Local Foods Local Food MPS is committed to supporting local farmers and food producers in our community. We are proud that approximately 25% of the food we purchase comes from local businesses. What is local? Our district's local food purchases include produce, meat, dairy, legumes, grains, and value-added food products. To define local food products, MPS adheres to the Good Food Purchasing Program's definition of "local" as being sourced and/or produced within 250 miles (500 miles for meat) of our location. Local Produce If it grows in our region, you can almost certainly bet that we source it from local farms for our students to enjoy! Farm to School Produce: MPS works directly with a more than a dozen small and mid-sized partner farmers located within 250 miles of the Twin Cities to buy a variety of produce grown specifically for our district. Our Farm to School partner farms use sustainable growing methods and are selected through an annual, competitive bidding process. Learn more about our Farm to School partner farms and annual bidding process. Local Produce: If we're not able to source specific items from our Farm to School partner farms, then we'll look for ways to buy it from another farm in our area. Local produce includes all additional produce grown by farms located within 250 miles of the Twin Cities. Depending on the season, the following Farm to School & local items can be found in MPS lunchrooms: Acorn Squash, Apples, Beauty Heart Radishes, Beets, Butternut Squash, Cabbage, Carrots, Cucumbers, Delicata Squash, Golden Beets, Jalapeno Peppers, Kale, Kohlrabi, Parsnips, Pinto Beans, Purple Daikon Radishes, Red Potatoes, Red Radishes, Rolled Oats, Romaine, Russet Potatoes, Rutabaga, Sweet Corn, Sweet Potatoes, Tomatoes, Watermelon, Yukon Gold Potatoes, Zucchini Squash, Wheat berries Local Proteins MPS partners with local meat suppliers to source high-quality meat products for our students, including beef, bison, chicken, and turkey. Other Local Foods MPS menus are selected and continually updated to reflect student preferences and the many vibrant cultural traditions represented in our school communities. We are proud to work with an ever-expanding set of local suppliers from family-owned start-ups to Fortune 500 companies.		Partners In addition to working with our many Farm to School partner farms and local vendors, MPS is proud to partner with many local and national organizations committed to supporting resilient, local food systems. Appetite for Change The Beez Kneez Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Minnesota Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems, UW - Madison Center for Science in the Public Interest City of Minneapolis Division of Solid Waste & Recycling Co-Op Partners Warehouse Harvest Moon Backyard Farmers Health Partners Hennepin County Department of Environmental Services Homegrown Minneapolis Land Stewardship Project LifeTime Foundation Mayor's Sustainability Office Midwest Food Connection Minneapolis Community Education Minneapolis Food Council Minneapolis Health Department Minneapolis Kids Minnesota Ag in the Classroom Minnesota Department of Agriculture Minnesota Department of Health Minnesota Farm to School Leadership Team Minnesota Food Association Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture Minnesota School Nutrition Association National Farm to School Network Northside Fresh Pew Charitable Trust Pollinate Minnesota Renewing the Countryside Russ Davis Wholesale School Food FOCUS Second Harvest Heartland Simple, Good and Tasty Spark-Y The Food Group The Good Acre The Trust for Public Land Twin Cities Local Food United Fresh Produce Association U of M - Department of Horticultural Science U of M - Extension U of M - Healthy Foods, Healthy Lives Institute U of M - Master Gardeners U of M - On-Farm GAPs Education Program U of M - Simply Good Eating Urban Ventures US Department of Agriculture The Wedge Community Co-Op YMCA Beacons Youth Farm If you'd like to become an organizational partner, please contact Kirsten Bansen Weigle, Farm to School Coordinator.

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