Bridging The Rural School Meal Gap in North Dakota

(Adobe Stock via Prairie News Service)

(By Mike Moen. Prairie News Service) – The intersection between healthy meals and schools is poised to be a big conversation throughout North Dakota this year.

In one rural area, a celebrated grocer initiative is doing its part to stock local schools with quality foods. Statewide, voters could decide whether North Dakota should provide free school meals to all students, regardless of household income, if a citizen-led coalition succeeds in getting the question on the ballot. In the meantime, food access efforts remain a priority in areas where grocery stores have a hard time staying open.

Jenna Gullickson co-owns Hoople Grocery, part of the Rural Access Distribution Cooperative. Under the program, local stores share and purchase bulk items together, and Gullickson said a handful of rural schools are on the delivery route.

“They get all their fresh produce from us, they get their milk through us,” she said. “Our RAD Co-op brings that to their schools every week.”