Niwot farmer Jules Van Thuyne chatted with students Wednesday while they ate lunch at Boulder’s Columbine Elementary School, telling them about how he farms the pinto beans some of them ate in their veggie chili cheese fries.
“We’re happy to serve you a local product that’s pretty healthy,” he said.
On Wednesday, other local options on the Boulder Valley School District’s lunch menu included a bison burger, corn on the cob, apples, cherry tomatoes and bell peppers. About 90 volunteers helped shuck the corn, which comes from Olathe, beforehand.
The local menu was created to celebrate Colorado Proud School Meal Day. Along with Van Thuyne’s visit to Columbine, Rock River Ranches owner Rex Moore visited Boulder’s Douglass Elementary to talk about raising bison.
“We want students to understand someone worked very hard to grow what’s on their lunch tray,” said Mary Rochelle, Boulder Valley Food Services programs manager.
Boulder Valley, along with the St. Vrain Valley School District and Slow Food Boulder, also took part in a Colorado Proud event over the weekend at Longmont’s Ollin Farms, which is a local supplier for both school districts. The event highlighted Colorado produce, nutrition education and parent resources.
Boulder Valley gives preference in its food purchasing to growers, producers and processors in Boulder and Broomfield counties, followed by preference to surrounding counties and then to other areas of Colorado.
Food Services, which has relationships with almost a dozen local farmers, works with growers and producers months in advance to time menu offerings with local harvests.
Along with featuring in the district’s veggie chili, Van Thuyne’s pinto beans are used in the district’s nachos and served on the side with hot dogs.
“We go through a lot of your beans,” Rochelle said.
Van Thuyne, whose family has farmed in Boulder County for more than 100 years, is part of a Boulder County Parks and Open Space and Boulder County Public Health project. The project facilitates institutional purchasing for locally grown beans from farmers on county lands, helping farmers move away from genetically engineered crops.
He farms about 800 acres of his own, along with about 1,000 acres leased from the county, and produces about 250,000 pounds of beans a year.
“It’s been a nice relationship with the school district,” he said.
Rochelle said the relationships with Colorado farmers and producers helped the district weather the supply chain disruptions during the pandemic, giving the district more flexibility than if most of the food was processed.
“We could diversify,” she said.
