ABOVE: Hydroponic lettuce, by Sarah Rypma

On the road that leads from the farm to the tray, we encounter many folks along the way who contribute to feeding our kids. Who’s Feeding Our Kids is a series where we explore people and organizations within the food system who are working to feed our kids and support the 10 Cents a Meal program.

These are some of their stories.

This story features Mark Rodriguez, Food Service Director for Lincoln Park, Southgate & Wyandotte Public Schools. The main focus for this story is the work being done in Lincoln Park Public Schools.

28 Years in School Nutrition 

Mark Rodriguez has been involved in school nutrition for 28 years, and for the last 18, he has managed food service at Lincoln Park Public Schools. Along with managing Lincoln Park, Mark is also the food service director for Wyandotte and Southgate Public Schools. In addition to menu development, Mark makes recommendations for kitchen improvements, equipment purchases, staffing levels, catering menus, small purchases and more. He also makes sure each district is in compliance with the USDA school nutrition program requirements.

Managing the evolving ebb and flow of food service for one district takes care and dedication to students, and doing that work for three districts is no easy task. With this in mind, and expressing a spirit the work requires, Mark shows up for his students to create exciting culinary experiences. “Every day brings different challenges that keep my job interesting. I enjoy serving delicious food to students and staff. I also enjoy experimenting with different menus that our catering customers enjoy,” Mark says.

On average, Lincoln Park serves 2,800 breakfasts and 3,645 lunches on a daily basis. When a school district has built a relationship with fresh local food, the wintertime can make the lunch line look a little different since the outdoor growing season is nearly opposite to the school year. If you live in a winter wonderland like Michigan, then you may know that at least 100 of 180 days in the school year are covered in snow or experience cold weather, limiting the time schools have to incorporate fresh produce directly from the farm.

Local Food Impacts in Schools in the Winter
Mark notes that having fresh produce available looks very appealing to students. As a 10 Cents a Meal Grantee, the district has the opportunity to use different colors and textures to attract students to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables. Student meals include made-to-order deli sandwiches, which have been a hit with the high school students, protein bowls, kid-friendly foods like pizza, and a variety of cultural dishes. Mark’s curation of the menus allows for staff to incorporate fresh vegetables into student favorites. 

Recently the district partnered with local vertical hydroponic farm Planted Detroit to receive weekly deliveries of lettuce. Located near Eastern Market, in Detroit, Planted grows lettuces, herbs, microgreens, and salad mixes, and distributes them to restaurants, grocery stores, and other clients across Michigan. The agriculture class at the high school also provides the schools with lettuce from the district’s own hydroponic growing system through Fork Farms. There, students get to learn about growing fresh produce and see that reflected in the lunch lines.

Hydroponic growing systems are often limited to leafy greens, herbs, edible flowers, and vegetables that bear fruits of a smaller size. Photo by Sarah Rypma.

The use of hydroponically grown greens is one way a school can continue to incorporate fresh Michigan produce year round. For that reason, salad greens are the winter featured food for the 2024-2025 10 Cents a Meal program year. Hydroponic growing systems are often limited to leafy greens, herbs, edible flowers, and vegetables that bear fruits of a smaller size. Farmers in Michigan that grow food only outdoors typically grow from mid-April, when the weather breaks and the ground thaws, to October, when the ground hardens. Due to climate change, some farmers are experiencing longer growing seasons, with the ground now hardening in late November. Even with this extension, farmers still need additional season extending equipment such as hoop houses, green houses, and high tunnels to grow crops between October and April. Without this equipment, farmers have to find other ways to support themselves in the winter, and their consumers must look for other sources of food. 

Mark is working to incorporate Great Lakes Farm to Freezer products into this district to keep vegetable options consistent for students and support the local food economy. Great Lakes Farm to Freezer aggregates produce from farms across the state and then freezes the produce. The frozen fruits and vegetables are then distributed to clients throughout Michigan. For the consumer, a bonus of this system is the produce comes washed and chopped, saving food service staff time in processing.

Challenges that Mark runs into when using local food include locating local farmers to purchase from and knowing exactly how much produce his students will eat on a weekly basis. Frozen items produced through Great Lakes Farm to Freezer removes the barrier of having to locate a farmer and allows staff to store items for longer periods while student meal-time favorites evolve. 

Mark also notes that if more local foods were available from the schools’ broadline food distributor, it would make ordering for students much easier. Especially if the distributor was processing and packaging items. “If I do find a local farmer, getting the food to our kitchens could be a challenge,” Mark says, explaining that transportation and allotment of staff time to source fresh produce can make procurement difficult. Now, with 10 Cents grantees allowed to use a portion of their grants to support transportation and staff time, Mark sees this issue as one that can be easily solved.

Building out a System of Resilience

Incorporating local food in schools is not a quick, overnight process. Photo by Sarah Rypma.

Winter is a great time to address challenges to season-limited produce procurement. In working to establish avenues for local food procurement during this time, we have the opportunity to establish a network of food movement that has the potential to support communities through climate change impacts, emergencies, and other situations that would impact the food system at large. Finding solutions to supplying fresh food to communities when the food supply isn’t directly down the street also serves to support food access in communities that live far away from their food— like rural communities with several acres between neighborhoods and urban settings that operate in busy cities.

The future of a resilient food system relies on the ability to navigate challenges. Incorporating local food in schools is not a quick, overnight process. It takes not only dedicated individuals, but also a coordinated system of production, aggregation, processing, packing, and distribution. Addressing the challenges schools and early care and education sites face in procurement of fresh produce in the winter, or during any season can help to build a resilient food system across the state.

10 Cents a Meal Policy and Engagement Specialist Amanda Brezzell writes from their hometown of Detroit, Michigan, where they support the 10 Cents a Meal Program through Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities, outreach and communications partner on the 10 Cents a Meal implementation team.

10 Cents a Meal Policy and Engagement Specialist Amanda Brezzell writes from their hometown of Detroit, Michigan, where they support the 10 Cents a Meal Program through Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities, outreach and communications partner on the 10 Cents a Meal implementation team.
amanda.brezzell@groundworkcenter.org