More on farm-to-school: Minneapolis kids to get grass-fed hot dogs

Add Minneapolis kids to those getting a taste of locally grown grass-fed beef for school lunch this spring, says Bertrand Weber, the school district's nutrition director.

The city's schools will try all-natural, nitrate-free hot dogs from Thousand Hills Cattle Company in Cannon Falls in April and May. Also in May, the school cooks will offer a meal of sloppy joes made from ground turkey the district is buying from Ferndale Market, also in Cannon Falls. In the fall, they may even try other cuts of beef from Thousand Hills.

The efforts are part of a growing movement to serve local food in school lunch programs, which I wrote about yesterday -- "The numbers are out again and they're up again."

If you're wondering how cash-strapped school lunch programs can buy gourmet meat, here's how Weber explains it:

Yes, the hot dogs cost a little more than those from standard sources. But not as much more as you might expect because the district is buying meat that the company has in excess. For the same reason, the district next fall might buy cuts that school cooks could turn into ethnic dishes involving shredded beef and stir fry.

And Weber says he's saving money with the turkey for similar reasons. Ferndale's typical non-holiday turkey market is for white meat. By taking ground turkey made from excess dark meat like legs and thighs, Weber pays $1.64 per pound for what he can turn into sloppy joes. Usually he has to pay $2.47 for commodity ground beef for that purpose.

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