For the past couple of years, cafeteria lunches served to about 83,000 youngsters in every Vermont public school and some private schools have included more local foods, thanks to a federal funding boost of almost $334,000. Instead of frozen, often precooked commodity beef, students eat fres h-grilled burgers from Boyden Farm in Cambridge and spaghetti sauce made with beef raised by Keith Farm Meats in Elmore. Salad bars boast colorful peppers, carrots and cucumbers grown on farms such as Norwich's Honey Field Farm and Joe's Brook Farm in Barnet. Veggie variety has expanded with tangy pickled beets and lime-ginger carrots from Burlington's Pitchfork Pickle. "Kids high-five me when I go to pick up my children after school and say, 'Great carrots!'" said Joe's Brook Farm co-owner Mary Skovsted, 44. Everyone was high-fiving when the feds directed another $1.2 million to Vermont for 2025 through the national Local Food for Schools and Childcare program. Almost another half a million was allotted to the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program, which supports food banks and other community-feeding nonprofits. Between 2022 and 2024, Vermont received almost $1.4 million through the two programs, the vast majority of which went to the bottom lines of more than 100 local farms and food producers. Four regional food hubs across Vermont coordinate orders and deliveries to help schools take full advantage of the funding. Their purchases of locally grown and produced foods shot up more than 70 percent, to $726,704, for the 2023-24 academic year. Boyden Farm sales director Kevin Hildreth, 50, said the revenue helped the family-owned beef operation purchase more animals from about 12 small Vermont farms, which it finishes raising in Cambridge. Boyden added about two cows weekly to the 15 to 17 it processes on average and kept 30 employees busy across the farm and its New Hampshire processing plant. In early January, the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets signed agreements with the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the $1.7 million. Farmers, schools, childcare centers and nonprofits started planning. Jen Hutchinson, 45, school nutrition manager for Barre Unified Union School District, had used her initial $9,000 award to bring on several new local food vendors, including Boyden. The funding helped Barre's kitchen teams do more from-scratch cooking, and she was excited to continue down that path. "Just smelling fresh-grilled hamburgers really helps our kids connect with the joy… ...read more read less