SIX SCHOOLS.
SIX STORIES.
ONE LOCAL FOOD
REVOLUTION.
Through the SCALES grant, six schools in Central Montana are working alongside local producers, ranchers, and community partners to bring more Montana-grown food to students and build stronger local food systems.
Hyper-local food systems are built close to home through relationships between schools, producers, students, families, and community partners. Schools are a vital part of local food systems because they are rooted in every part of the community. Schools can create a reliable market for producers, keep local food dollars within the community, and show kids and families that school meals can support long-term health and economic development.
Through Project SCALES, Supporting Community Agriculture and Local Education Systems,
MT-PECH is leading a three-year project titled Investing in Montana School Food-System Transformation to Reach 33 × 33. Funded by the USDA Food and Nutrition Service, the project brings together schools, producers, processors, distributors, and community partners to strengthen Montana’s school food supply chain and bring more Montana-grown foods into school meals.
From the 2025-26 through 2027-28 school years, each of the six participating schools will receive $12,000 annually to develop a project tailored to its community’s needs, resources, and local partnerships.
Hyper-local Food Systems
Built by Schools
Meet the School Nutrition Leaders
These six schools are bringing food system change to life in ways that reflect their unique communities. Each school is testing ideas, strengthening local partnerships, and creating new pathways to serve more Montana-grown food, while helping students deepen their connection to local communities and agriculture.
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Helena Public Schools
Helena, Montana
Helena Public Schools is using SCALES funding to build the kitchen capacity and local partnerships needed to serve more Montana-grown food across the district. Food Services Director Robert Worthy is leading this work while preparing his team for Helena’s new commercial base kitchen. Year 1 funding was designated for a combi oven that will allow staff to test recipes, improve menu items featuring local ingredients, and build the skills needed to expand meals districtwide.
In Year 2, Robert plans to support portions of a pilot with Old Salt Co-op and help promote the project to students, families, and the broader school community. Old Salt is a Helena-based, rancher-owned Montana meat company that connects local ranches with processing, butchery, and local markets, making it a natural partner for exploring how more Montana meat can move into school meals. The pilot and related promotions will help the district test local products and build awareness of the producers behind them.
Helena’s broader plans also include developing a community fundraising model to help offset the higher cost of local food and create long-term support for purchasing Montana beef. Future investments may include a commercial grain mill for incorporating lentils and other Montana-grown foods into recipes, an additional commercial grill, and impingement ovens for the district’s high schools.
Power School
Power, Montana
Power School is using SCALES funding to build the infrastructure, skills, and community support needed to expand its farm-to-school program. Funding has supported nutrition education featuring local ingredients, Indigenous foods, menu sampling, and other interactive student activities. In Year 1, she hosted a Go for the Gold in Grains event where students learned all about cleaning and grinding wheat into flour and making wheat crackers with Pfeifle Farms in Power, MT. She also organized an Apple Extravaganza Day where students learned how to prepare and cook local apples into danishes and make fresh-pressed apple juice.
Laura has also built the school nutrition social media and shares its farm-to-school work through photos, videos, and community outreach. She created a Facebook page called Power Public Schools Cafeteria. There you can find menu highlights, farm-to-table features, student favorites, and behind-the-scenes.
Power also plans to analyze recipes for upcoming federal nutrition standards, establish production records for a new cycle menu, and explore a matching-grant fundraiser to help offset the higher cost of local food. A large flour mill and sifter will allow the kitchen to work directly with Montana-grown grains. Staff will receive hands-on training to make better use of the school’s combi ovens, adapt current recipes, and develop new ways to prepare local foods.
Choteau Schools
Choteau, Montana
Choteau Schools is using SCALES funding to strengthen a school nutrition program connected to the community’s ranching heritage. Head Cook Cathy Campbell leads a kitchen team that serves approximately 350 students each day. Through the school’s Beef to School program and partnership with The Producer Partnership, all of Choteau’s protein is sourced locally, including six donated cattle and three donated pigs each year that are transported and processed at no cost to the school. Cathy reports that approximately 80 percent of the school’s meals and menu items are prepared from scratch and that students genuinely appreciate the locally raised meat served in their cafeteria.
One of Cathy’s greatest Year 1 accomplishments was taking 13 students to Livingston for a two-day, hands-on experience with The Producer Partnership. Students explored careers in meat processing, food production, and agriculture while learning about employment opportunities that can help address Montana’s shortage of skilled butchers and agricultural workers. SCALES funding has also supported a commercial grill, meat slicer, and large-capacity toaster oven to help the kitchen prepare more local foods efficiently. Cathy transformed the cafeteria’s previously blank walls with colorful artwork celebrating local cattle, nutritious meals, and Choteau’s commitment to being “Powered by Local Protein.”
In Year 2, she plans to continue connecting students with The Producer Partnership’s internship program and involve the school’s woods class in designing and building a greenhouse that will grow produce for the lunch program.
Sun River Valley School District
Simms, Montana
Sun River Valley School District is using SCALES funding to build a hands-on farm-to-school program centered on food production, student learning, and community involvement. Betty Mirza, the food service director and head cook for both schools in the district, is leading the work. During Year 1, the district used its $12,000 award for greenhouse maintenance and repairs, garden supplies and seeds, tabletop hydroponic systems, a composting system, two flow hives with bees, and a storage shed for beekeeping supplies. The school garden is now growing beets, corn, potatoes, and cucumbers, and the site for a new water feature has been dug after the team carefully worked around an underground gas line.
The district’s two beehives are thriving, with the long-term goal of producing honey for school meals while teaching students about pollinators and food production. Together, the garden, greenhouse, hydroponics, and beekeeping projects will allow students and staff to participate in harvesting and better understand the full cycle of where their meals come from. Betty has kept students, staff, school leaders, and the community involved through cafeteria displays, daily announcements, school board updates, and participation in the school’s October vendor fair.
In Year 2, Betty plans to purchase a grill and smoker, prepare for the installation of a combi oven with a floor drain, add secure shelving to the walk-in cooler, and build a pavilion for outdoor cooking and demonstrations. She will also continue improving the garden and developing relationships with community producers who can supply the schools with local beef and produce.
Dutton/Brady Schools
Dutton, Montana
Dutton and Brady Schools are using SCALES funding to create the safe, functional kitchen space needed to prepare more meals from scratch and serve more Montana-grown food. Before the program could expand, Food Service Director Gloria had to address hazardous wiring and limited electrical capacity that made the kitchen unsafe for additional cooking equipment. Funding supported major electrical repairs, including new wiring and outlets for the schools’ pizza oven and proofer. These upgrades allow kitchen staff to use the equipment safely while expanding the variety of foods they can prepare in-house.
The schools also lacked enough cold-storage space for locally sourced products, so Gloria purchased a new upright freezer specifically for Montana meats and other local foods. Together, the electrical improvements and added freezer space create the foundation needed to purchase, store, and prepare more local ingredients.
Gloria has also repaired the concrete floor near the walk-in refrigerator and freezer, further improving the kitchen’s safety and functionality. Additional plans include adding a freeze dryer and vacuum sealer, maintaining essential kitchen equipment, and building relationships with local producers who can supply eggs, vegetables, seasonal fruit, and canned goods.
Greenfield School
Fairfield, Montana
Greenfield School is using SCALES funding to strengthen a nutrition program that already prepares nearly every school lunch from scratch. Food Service Director Haven Murphy is focused on giving her team the equipment, skills, and community connections needed to serve more Montana-grown and locally produced foods. In Year 1, Haven invested in a stackable oven and proofer designed to improve baking consistency, maintain safe holding temperatures, and make scratch cooking more efficient. Greenfield’s clerk also reported that the nutrition program spent substantially less on food and labor than in previous years.
In Year 2, Haven plans to complete training that will prepare her to offer hands-on nutrition and culinary education to students. She also wants to create colorful signs, Montana crop maps, and other displays that make local food and nutrition education engaging for students of all ages while refreshing the cafeteria and food-preparation areas. Haven plans to reach out through local newspapers and businesses to find community members interested in donating beef to the school, using outreach materials that have been successful at Choteau Schools.
Additional plans include student field trips to a local greenhouse, where students can harvest produce for their families and the school, as well as visits to a local pishkun and bison ranch paired with a bison meal. Haven is also exploring a powwow dance demonstration accompanied by traditional foods to support cultural learning and Montana Indian Education for All. She is currently exploring whether a press or roller would be a good investment for preparing scratch-made pizza and cinnamon rolls!