Rio Rancho Schools Earn State Award for Local Food Program

Rio Rancho Public Schools received the Golden Chile Award from the New Mexico Grown Coalition, placing it among five districts in the state that won the recognition. The district's Student Nutrition Team worked toward the award after receiving the Sprout Award last year.

The program serves nearly 16,000 students each day, including about 6,000 breakfasts and 10,000 lunches. Under the Healthy Universal School Meals Program, which the state expanded this year, every student in New Mexico receives one free breakfast and one free lunch daily. The New Mexico Grown program is a grant tied to that program, and the district must apply for it annually. Rio Rancho Public Schools received about $88,000 this year and also uses district budget money to buy additional fruits and vegetables.

Felix Griego, executive director of the Student Nutrition Team, said the district added taste tests for students on locally grown products, put more meats and produce into menus and salad bars, and brought farmers into the program. Students from Rio Rancho Middle School took a field trip to a local farm to see how food is produced.

The coalition evaluates five areas when deciding on the award: purchasing and using New Mexico-grown food, promoting local food culture in the meal program, edible gardens, student voice and nutrition education, and sustainability of the New Mexico Grown program. Griego said salad bars are available in every school and feature many New Mexico Grown products. Locally grown lettuce at high school salad bars is popular, as are carne asada tacos and carne asada french fries. During last year's football season, the district ran a bracket-style vote on menu items, and carne asada french fries won.

Tasting events at some schools offer locally sourced produce and sometimes meat so students can try samples and learn where farms are located. Southwest Food Excellence donated two hydroponic gardens, one at Colinas Elementary and one at Rio Rancho Elementary. The district is replacing old salad bars with new ones and donating the retired units to elementary schools for STEAM classes, where students plant gardens to grow lettuce, fruits and vegetables. Terri Archibeque, the district's manager at Southwest Food Excellence, is working on family nights and farmers' markets at schools to promote the National School Lunch program and distribute local fresh produce to parents.

Southwest Food Excellence serves as the district's contractor for the nutrition program. Griego said the district's primary focus is its students, an initiative brought by Superintendent Dr. Robert Dodd. "For us at the district, this is a huge thing for us, something that we were really striving to get this year," Griego said about the Golden Chile Award.

The grant money must be applied for each year. The district received about $88,000 this year.