歪歪漫画

HALSTAD, Minn. 鈥� Bjorn Solberg makes marketing potatoes to schools a key part of his business.

The owner of Hugh鈥檚 Garden in Halstad participates in the Farm to 歪歪漫画 program, selling potatoes to schools in the large Minnesota cities of Minneapolis, the St. Paul suburb of Roseville and in smaller consolidated schools such as Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton.

Heather Nowak, Dilworth-Glydon-Felton Public 歪歪漫画s nutrition services director, uses money from a $70,000 Minnesota Agriculture Department Farm to 歪歪漫画 program grant she received in February 2023 to help pay for the potatoes she gets from Hugh鈥檚 Gardens and other products she buys from local farmers.

鈥淚鈥檝e always had a passion for Farm to 歪歪漫画, because I really think it's important to tell our students where food comes from and to put a face on it,鈥� she said.

The Patrick Leahy Farm to 歪歪漫画 Program helps child nutrition program operators incorporate local foods in the , the and and all associated programs, according to the U.S. Agriculture Farm to 歪歪漫画 website. The agency鈥檚 staff also work with tribal communities by promoting food sovereignty and the integration of traditional food ways into tribal meal programs.

Contributed / Hugh's Gardens

Solberg purchased Hugh鈥檚 Gardens, a washing and packing certified organic potato plant, in 2019. The 2.1 million pound-capacity plant, originally built for storage and shipping of conventional potatoes, was converted to organic in 2000 by its previous owners, Hugh and Carmen Soria-Dufner.

In late August, Hugh鈥檚 Gardens bins were empty and the equipment ready to wash and pack 2023 potatoes, which will be distributed directly to schools and retail customers, such as grocery stores and restaurants or to wholesale companies.

Solberg also purchased a condenser and in the future hopes to be able to store potatoes year-round, supplying customers who want to buy the produce in the summer.

Solberg didn鈥檛 have experience with potato production before he bought Hugh鈥檚 Gardens, but he did have an agricultural background that has helped him navigate the potato marketing business.

He grew up on a farm south of Fargo, North Dakota, near Wild Rice, where his family raised wheat, barley and soybeans and had a sheep, goats and chicken business.

鈥淕rowing up on the farm is where I learned to work hard and where I gained an entrepreneurial spirit from my parents,鈥� Solberg said. Though he never planned to become involved in agriculture, Hugh鈥檚 Gardens is opening his eyes to the many ways people are connected to the industry.

鈥淭here are many opportunities out there besides being a farmer. I appreciate having a hand in the health care and educational systems, too, along with agriculture,鈥� Solberg said.

Owning Hugh鈥檚 Gardens is a way for Solberg to be involved in the food system and promote a healthy, locally raised commodity, something he鈥檚 been passionate about since taking a sociology class at Concordia College in Moorhead, where he earned a degree in social studies and secondary education.

Contributed / Hugh's Gardens

After Solberg purchased Hugh鈥檚 Gardens, he initially worked with a single Minneapolis school that was ramping up its Farm to 歪歪漫画 program. Since then he鈥檚 worked each year to add school customers.

Hugh鈥檚 Gardens supplies potatoes for school breakfasts, lunches and summer feeding programs.

Solberg works with the school nutrition program staff to provide the kind of potato and the grade they plan to serve in their lunchrooms.

Options include a medium- or large-sized russet for baked potato bars, large red for wedge potatoes or wedge fries and a lower grade potato that might be 鈥渟kinned鈥� or otherwise blemished, but still suitable for mashing.

鈥淩eally, it鈥檚 about what they鈥檙e going to do with it, what variety they might be looking for, how many pounds they鈥檙e looking for,鈥� Solberg said.

Nowak, an 18-year veteran of working in school food services jobs in North Dakota and Minnesota, has been Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton Public 歪歪漫画s nutrition services director since October 2022.

Hugh鈥檚 Gardens was one of the first local companies she worked with after she started her job.

The school has used the potatoes from Hugh鈥檚 Gardens in its lunches in baked, potato cubes and French fry forms.

Solberg has been 鈥減henomenal鈥� to work with, Nowak said.

鈥淗e has gone above and beyond; answered my questions, helped me make connections. He helps deliver to the school,鈥� she said.

Solberg has procured potatoes from a variety of producers in Minnesota and North Dakota during the past four years, now offering contracts to a farmer who grows certified organic potatoes near Alexandria, Minnesota, and one who raises the crop near Park Rapids, Minnesota.

Besides marketing potatoes, an important part of Solberg鈥檚 work with the Farm to 歪歪漫画 program is talking to elementary, middle and high school students about the commodity.

Contributed / Hugh's Gardens

鈥淭he Farm to 歪歪漫画 program isn鈥檛 just supplying food into the school lunchroom. It鈥檚 producing much more of a hands-on, experiential learning opportunity for kids. So I鈥檝e been able to do a few classroom and also visiting lunchrooms, so it鈥檚 been a lot of different things,鈥� Solberg said.

For example, the teacher at the last school at which he spoke told him she had been teaching about seeds, so Solberg brought seed potatoes with him to the class and talked about them and what they mean for his business and for them.

Whether visiting school classrooms or lunch rooms, the students Solberg meets are enthusiastic and ask many questions, he said.

Solberg also helped found as an easy way way for customers to be able to efficiently order local food products, including potatoes, from producers. 歪歪漫画s in Moorhead and Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton use it to find produce for their Farm to 歪歪漫画 programs.

The Red River Harvest Cooperative will host an , on Sept. 10, 2023, which will include a farm-to-school-meal demonstration from Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton schools and a short panel discussion.

The farmers whose potatoes that Solberg sells to the schools support him teaching students about their produce.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e more than happy for me to be the marketer and the face after putting in the work of growing them," Solberg said.

Solberg wasn鈥檛 expecting the challenges of poor production years and COVID when he bought Hugh鈥檚 Gardens, but the involvement in the Farm to 歪歪漫画 program is developing as he had hoped it would.

Contributed / Hugh's Gardens

鈥淲hat I did envision was more Farm to 歪歪漫画 programs and that's been coming to fruition, and I鈥檓 hanging in there, and we鈥檝e got many years ahead of us to be supplying people,鈥� Solberg said.