FORT WASHAKIE—When Riverton farmer Lindsey Anderson dropped 1,000 ears of corn off at Fort Washakie School in early September, Food Service Director Krystal Northcott had a daunting task in front of her. 

She started shucking them that day, but it was clear she needed help if she was going to get through the morass in a timely manner. Help arrived in the form of dozens of students, who, along with teacher Tahnee Robinson, made short work of it, sending the shucked corn to the freezer.

“We were done like that,” Northcott said, snapping her fingers. 

Fremont County District 21 Food Service Director Krystal Northcott serves a student lunch on Oct. 13, 2025 at Fort Washakie School. Farm to School Day put local beef, corn and lettuce on the menu. (Katie Klingsporn/WyoFile)

The helpers and their fellow students were able to taste the fruits of their labors on Monday when Fort Washakie School held a Farm to School Day lunch. 

On the menu: corn on the cob from 1890 Farm, sloppy joes featuring beef from Griffin/Rees Ranch near Arapahoe and lettuce grown on school grounds by Kerry Noonan’s second-grade class. 

So how did it taste? Kids being kids, not everyone was adventurous enough to try all the local ingredients. But the ones who did taste the food generally gave positive reviews. 

Fort Washakie School second grader Watela Bennett digs into a sloppy joe made with local beef on Oct. 13, 2025. (Katie Klingsporn/WyoFile)

“It tastes the same … but better,” said Watela Bennett, a second-grade student, after biting into her sloppy joe. 

Wyoming’s Farm to School program has a simple aim: get more local food into the state’s cafeterias. The goal is to connect students with healthy ingredients while also teaching them about agriculture and nutrition.  

There are challenges. Wyoming’s harsh climate and northern latitude make a wide range of produce hard to grow — particularly during the months school is in session. Because school districts prepare thousands of meals daily, they need to order items well in advance and in enormous quantities, which can make orders difficult to fill for small farms. 

Kerry Noonan’s second-grade class grew lettuce in a grow dome at Fort Washakie School. The produce then went into the salad bar on Oct. 13, 2025 for a farm-to-school lunch. (Katie Klingsporn/WyoFile)

Under the leadership of Program Coordinator Bobby Lane, the statewide program has seen substantial growth. The number of school meals served with Wyoming products exploded to 40,000 in 2024, up from under 2,000 in 2023, according to the Wyoming Department of Education.

Farm to School Day, which is just one part of the larger program, marks a day to highlight local food with a celebratory lunch menu. This fall, districts have participated by offering local beef, potatoes, corn, grain flour and lettuce. Some 35 districts have now signed on to participate in Farm to School, said Lane, who was in Fort Washakie to support the staff and talk to students. 

Wyoming Farm to School Coordinator Bobby Lane hands out stickers to students at Fort Washakie School during a lunch that featured local beef, corn and lettuce. (Katie Klingsporn/WyoFile)

Lane helped orchestrate Fort Washakie’s event, but he was among many to make it happen. The Andersons donated the corn, John and Darla Griffin donated a cow, 307 Meat Company in Laramie processed the 800-plus pounds of beef and the Wyoming Hunger Initiative paid for the processing. 

Farm to School Wyoming is gaining momentum, Lane said. The program will hold its inaugural conference on Oct. 28-29 in Casper.

“It’s like a snowball running down the mountain,” he said. “It’s just getting bigger and bigger.”

Katie Klingsporn reports on outdoor recreation, public lands, education and general news for WyoFile. She’s been a journalist and editor covering the American West for 20 years. Her freelance work has...

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  1. Wow. Talk about hands-on learning. Not abstract. As in the mouth relatable.
    The greens have my stomach churning. Congratulations.

    Reply

  2. Hey, another wonderful program happening here in our public schools! And school gardens are such impactful learning experiences for kids. I was able to help with one at Meadowlark Elementary here in Gillette many years ago, and the fun and pride the kids had over growing their own veggies and flowers was totally worth it.

    Reply
  3. Reply