Local students will be seeing a lot more local vegetables and fruit on their plates.

The Montezuma School to Farm Project and the Southwest Farm Fresh Cooperative recently received a $97,683 USDA grant to increase local foods in schools.

Southwest Farm Fresh Cooperative, which started operations in June, delivers locally grown produce to six school districts.

Kim Lindgren, president of the co-op board, was pleased.

"The money will support the operation of the co-op and help us out with expenses," she said. "We are a really new business."

A big part of getting local produce to schools is walking growers through the "intimidating" bid process, she said. At the end, however, students get healthful vegetables such as broccoli, tomatoes, lettuce and sprouts.

"The schools love cherry tomatoes, because kids love cherry tomatoes," she said. "They also like sunflower greens, something we didn't expect."

Southwest Farm Fresh Cooperative delivers produce to Mancos, Dolores, Cortez, Bayfield, Ignacio and Durango schools

"They are getting the same beautiful produce that Telluride (restaurants) get," Lindgren said.

Grant money will help to educate producers on food safety and the school bid process.

School to Farm Project

The co-op will share the grant with the Montezuma School to Farm Project.

Sarah Syverson, director of the project, said the model will serve as an example for other schools. The model combines the co-op's distribution efforts and the School to Farm Project's educational and farming projects at Mancos, Dolores and Cortez schools.

However, she said most of the grant money will stay in Cortez and a small portion will go to Dolores.

"The main focus for the Montezuma School to Farm project for this grant is the development of the Cortez production plot at the Cortez Middle School and teaching classes in the Cortez School District," Syverson said.

The money will allow the group to add 75 heritage fruit trees and rows of annual crops at Cortez Middle School.

Last year, the Cortez Middle School farm produced 4,000 pounds of food for the schools and planted 50 apple trees.

The grant supports agriculture and nutrition education efforts such as school gardens, field trips to farms, and cooking classes. Grant money will now include nutrition education in Cortez elementary schools.

Earlier this year, students at Cortez Middle School planted heritage trees outside the school grafted from a local orchard nearly 100 years old.

For more information, go to: southwestfarmfresh.locallygrown.net/