Clarke Advisory Panel Explores ‘Buy Local’ For School Food

By Val Van Meter

Now, it’s apples.

Next spring, it could be a variety of local produce.

The Clarke County Economic Development Advisory Board wanted to know if the county’s school system could purchase local food.

At the board’s meeting Wednesday, Edward Breslauer, business director for the county school system, said officials have been studying the possibility.

“We’ve been working on it off and on since 2003 or 2004,” he said.

The effort started with purchasing local apples, a suggestion made by a former member of the advisory board, David Juday.

Breslauer noted that the schools face a few challenges in trying to “buy local.”

First, he noted, they must find items they can use in the lunch program. While some items, such as apples, can be served raw, others require a little processing —or sometimes a lot.

And the schools don’t have the machinery or the manpower to process large amounts of produce.

Availability is an issue that cuts two ways, Breslauer said.

The schools need to have enough of a foodstuff to feed some 2,000 people if necessary, but growers must also know, months ahead, that they have a sale for that amount of product.

Then the state government inserts a monkey wrench. Breslauer said that, under state procurement regulations, he has a $500 limit for “small purchase authority.”

Persuading the General Assembly to “tweak” the procurement rules to increase the limit to $1,500 or $3,000 would mean schools could “go out and buy without the procurement hoop.”

Breslauer said he’s working on a school year “menu cycle” that could take advantage of locally produced foods. “But they can’t be labor-intensive.”

He is aware of a consortium of schools — stretching from Augusta County to Falls Church — that is buying produce. He promised to obtain more information about it and share it with the board.

And, he noted, Clarke County schools often team with those in Winchester to increase their buying power. “We can try dragging the City of Winchester in, too.”

William Mackintosh of Mackintosh Fruit Farm in Clarke County, who supplies apples to the schools, said he would work with other farm market producers in the county to put together a list of fruits or produce they would have available next spring.

Assistant Superintendent of Instruction Matthew Eberhardt suggested that the schools try to incorporate a few new foodstuffs into the menu then.

“Let’s start small,” he said, noting that the school year wraps up in June, when gardens are just getting into full production. “If it’s successful, we can look into a big season in the fall.”

Mackintosh agreed: “I think it’s exciting that we’re talking about it.”

Attending the meeting in the Joint Government Center were Chairman Christy Dunkle and members Jim Barb, Bryan Conrad, Jay Hillerson, Dr. Eric Myer and Board of Supervisors’ liaison Michael Hobert. Absent was A. R. “Pete” Dunning Jr.