South Ripley schools pilot meat program
Partner with local providers
Mary Margaret Moorhead - Staff Writer

Believed to be the first in the United States, South Ripley Community Schools are piloting a program in which farmers in Ripley County provide meat to the elementary and high school cafeterias for student consumption.

"Everything happens in one county," said Bud Beesley, vice president of the Jennings County Growers Co-op, who is assisting with the project in Ripley County.

Beesley, along with Richard Adrian, president of the Jennings County Growers and a member of the Jennings County Farm Bureau Board; Paul Anderson of the Ripley County Farm Bureau; and Dennis Stockdale, assistant superintendent of the South Ripley Community School Corporation, met recently to announce the new program through the media.

The program actually got underway on Thursday, September 22, when pork produced by Irvin Harmeyer and processed at the Westport Locker was delivered to the school cafeterias. This past Monday the schools received a processed beef from Paul Anderson's farm.

Since receiving the processed pork and beef, the school corporation has purchased hogs from the Paul Kessens family and the Geisler farms.

"The meat is locally produced, locally processed, and locally consumed," said Anderson. "Tax dollars stay within the county. The meat is identity preserved and is traceable. Trace-ability is the key word. The origin is identified and won't require government labeling."

Noting that the corporation is fully supportive of this pilot program, Assistant Superintendent Stockdale said, "When you can keep tax dollars in the community, improve school nutrition, and work with local growers, it is a good thing. Even our FFA gets involved."

Prior to becoming involved in the program, South Ripley Corporation studied laws, regulations, and interpretations and received approval on Tuesday, August 30, from the Indiana Department of Education and from Region 5 of the United States Department of Agriculture.

Along with the Ripley County Farm Bureau, the corporation worked with Elizabeth Foland, school nutrition representative of the Indiana Department of Education, and Debra Tropp, marketing agent for the USDA in Washington, D.C.

Because the Westport Locker had worked with the Jennings County representatives, the first hog and beef were processed there. However, the partners agree that eventually all of this will be done in Ripley County

According to Stockdale, corporation representatives will meet with other food service people in the county to enlighten them on the process. "Prices are competitive or maybe a little lower," said Stockdale.

In addition to providing meat for the school's food service, the science classes will also be able to use organs from the animals for educational purposes, Stockdale pointed out.

Although Jennings County has not begun the purchase of meat for their schools, their Growers Co-op and Farm Bureau have provided produce of various kinds and have assisted with the investigation and installation of the pilot program at South Ripley.

In summing up the new program, Richard Adrian said, "Ripley County Farm Bureau and the South Ripley school system have been very forward looking in getting meat products which are produced locally into the school. It's a credit to their working together to keep nutrition within the county."