Auburn schools work to put locally grown food on menu

When Eric Boutin imagines the perfect carrot, he pictures a pointy orange root with a mass of greens, maybe even a little dirt.

Nothing screams farm fresh like a dirty orange carrot.

Boutin, child-nutrition supervisor for the Auburn School District, says his job is to teach students about nutrition by showing them that food originates from somewhere other than a bag or can in the supermarket.

"It's about helping students make the connection between food and where it comes from," Boutin said.

For years, Auburn has pushed to revamp its lunch program, serving many foods prepared by chefs and students and avoiding prepared products at most of its schools.

But limited budgets and large menus have made it difficult for the district of 14,500 students to step away from commercial food sources and toward local growers who can provide farm-fresh ingredients.

Last spring, Auburn schools placed an ad to find local farmers interested in supplying produce. One person responded: The Auburn resident said the district could have all the fruit it wanted from the two pear trees in her backyard.

A kind gesture, but the district isn't allowed to serve fruit grown in someone's backyard because of strict health guidelines set by the USDA's National School Lunch Program, Boutin said.

"I don't have any good answer for why we haven't had success," Boutin said. "No one seems to be interested."

Area farmers say they aren't surprised that school districts have a tough time getting local foods.

Stella Mestre, who sells for Wenatchee-based Tiny's Organic farm, said small farmers can't sell for prices as low as those offered by large suppliers. And with districts required to find the lowest-available prices, small farmers have no chance.

School districts face other challenges, too:

• Small farms usually aren't equipped to wash and package produce the way districts like to serve it, Mestre said.

• Small farms don't have large delivery fleets to allow them to transport the amount of produce a school district would need, Mestre said.

• Many fruits and vegetables are available only at certain times of the year.

Finding a steady supply of produce from local farms is tough, said Dan Johnson, food-services and nutrition supervisor for the Kent School District.

"We really want to emphasize fresh, local produce on our menus; but I'm not sure if there is enough product being grown locally to support that," Johnson said.

Boutin and Johnson say a liaison between farmers and school districts is needed before local foods can have a regular presence on lunch menus.

"We need someone who will help us pin a product down," Boutin said.

Later this year, Auburn will host a round-table discussion where local farmers can tell the district what they need to build a successful relationship with schools.

For now, Boutin has taken to driving his pickup to local farms for freshly harvested potatoes that district cooks use instead of French fries or watermelons they serve instead of fruit cocktail.

He has been going to farmers markets in Seattle this winter to hand out business cards to farmers. "There is a desire to do this," Boutin said. "We'd love to spend our dollars locally when we can."

On a recent visit to the University District Farmers Market in Seattle, Boutin hoped to find a farm-fresh product to serve students on "Taste Washington Day" March 19. But few were within his price range, and many were too obscure for the school-age palate.

"Sunchokes [a species of sunflower] are great for a family, but when you're looking for something to feed 6,000 elementary students, you have to find something they're likely eat," Boutin said.

Karen Johnson: 253-234-8605 or karenjohnson@seattletimes.com