USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service has officially terminated the second round of the Local Food for Schools and Child Care (LFSCC) program, effective May 6
by Julie Udelhofen, Food Service Director for Clear Lake Community Schools
Local food is the gateway to much more than just what’s on the plate. At Clear Lake Community School District, we’ve seen firsthand how integrating local food into our school meals has transformed not only our menus but also our relationships, workforce and students’ understanding of nutrition. And we are not alone—many school nutrition directors across Iowa have embarked on similar journeys.
With the support of Local Food for Schools (LFS) funding, we began purchasing fresh fruits and vegetables through the Iowa Food Hub. Over time, we expanded our efforts, buying directly from local farmers and strengthening our community’s economy. Unlike big-box suppliers, these farmers offer a diverse array of foods, introducing new flavors and textures to our students.
Working with local producers has required us to navigate unique challenges—coordinating delivery times, ensuring proper documentation and managing school-sized quantities. These relationships have been invaluable, reinforcing a deeper understanding of where our food comes from.
Introducing fresh, locally grown ingredients meant re-training our staff in scratch cooking. We invested in professional development, learning new techniques and experimenting with spices to make these ingredients shine. As we brought unfamiliar foods to our menus, we realized the importance of student education. We displayed information about the farmers who grew their food, trained staff on nutrition so they could talk to students about healthy eating, and made taste testing a structured part of our process.
The impact has been remarkable. Our team has grown in confidence, skill and job satisfaction. Our students are learning not just to recognize and enjoy fresh foods but also to develop lifelong healthy eating habits. By increasing nutrient-dense, whole foods, we have phased out processed, manufactured products filled with unidentifiable ingredients. We know that what we feed our students today influences their health for years to come—leading to fewer medical issues and lower healthcare costs in the long run.
Our next goal was to incorporate local meat into our program by the 2025-26 school year. But with the elimination of LFS funding, that vision has come to a halt. The loss of this investment in school meals threatens the momentum we’ve built and forces us back into a system that prioritizes cost over quality. School food budgets are tight, and without financial support, I cannot justify the higher costs of fresh, local meats, vegetables and fruits.
Local food isn’t just about what ends up on a lunch tray—it’s about strengthening the connections between farmers, students, schools, and communities. It could have signaled a return to diverse, sustainable Iowa family farms rather than the continued consolidation of agriculture by large corporations. But with this funding cut, it’s clear that our current administration does not see the health and well-being of our children as a priority.
We must do better. Our students—and our communities—deserve it.