ST. IGNATIUS — Agriculture is a way of life for so many Montanans - young and old.
In St. Ignatius schools, culturally-relevant foods on the menu bring a new meaning to farm to table for the next generations.
The Montana Ag Network's shows us how meals go directly from the garden to the lunchroom.
"Some of them think chicken comes on a stick and you know, they go to the store, that's where food comes from," St. Ignatius school board trustee and gardener Tim Marchant told MTN.
In St. Ignatius schools, teachers are spreading the message to students that locally grown food is better for their growing minds. "It feels like I'm just getting healthy," shared young student Ezlyn.
SNAP educator with the MSU Extension Havilah Burton added, "A lot of the kids who go to school here have families who are farmers and ranchers and getting their family produce into the school is one of our top goals."
Each month, kids take time getting to know what's on their meal trays thanks to a statewide program. "Harvest of the month is a free program that focuses on one item a month comes with posters, recipes and just explores a lot of a lot of different fruits and vegetables, proteins, dairy," explained Montana Farm to School food service coordinator Jay Stagg.
During October, apples were in the spotlight. Food service directors paired the fruit with bison so kids could connect being healthy with their culture. St. Ignatius food service director Wendy Wieder noted, "We like to support locals. Our bison is from St. Ignatius. So, that's really kind of cool."
"These are a great way to celebrate who we are and our culture and bringing all of those parts of life together into a cohesive whole," offered Burton.
In the garden — an old tribal home site gifted to the school — little hands get to actively shape their diets by growing their own produce.
Marchant detailed, "Oh, they absolutely love the pumpkin, took two of them to carry one and they were just thrilled by the pumpkins because the last time they saw the plants, they were probably small."
He continued, "Kids planted stuff early spring in the greenhouse, got transplanted out into the garden mostly by kids. And now that they're back, we're harvesting some of that."
