Students across the Klamath County School District will crunch carrots together on Thursday, Oct. 24 during the district’s seventh annual Crunch at Once celebrating National Farm to School Month.
More than 4,600 whole carrots from Red Buttes Farm in the Applegate Valley were delivered to the district warehouse Oct. 15 in preparation for next week’s event. Elementary students will receive their carrots whole while students in our junior high and high schools will eat the local carrots integrated into their lunchtime meal.
KCSD’s annual Crunch event is a fun way to celebrate farmers and to connect youth with local food, said Michelle Kekoa Taipin, the district’s Farm to School procurement and education coordinator.
Taipin started with the district in January 2024, taking over the reins of KCSD’s Farm to School program. A 2020 graduate of Henley High School, she grew up in the Klamath Basin, participating in 4-H and FFA at local, state, and national levels. She earned a bachelor’s of science in animal science and production from Texas Tech University, where she served with the Texas Tech Agriculture Ambassadors.
“I grew up showing livestock, and quickly found a passion for promoting the agriculture community,” Taipin said. “The Klamath Basin is heavily driven by agriculture and Farm to School allows us to bridge the gap between producers and consumers by bringing local produce and protein into our school cafeterias.”
Klamath County School District hosted the first Crunch in October 2018. In past years, students have crunched Oregon-grown apples and Klamath-grown spinach.
This year, the district again is partnering with OSU Extension. Klamath Grown joined the effort by picking up and delivering the carrots for the event, and Sky Lakes Wellness Center is working with KCSD to implement a Crunch at Once event in Klamath Falls City Schools.
The Crunch event is just one way Klamath County School District demonstrates its commitment to Farm to School programming, both at the school and district levels. Throughout the year, the district’s Food Services Team supports Farm to School through its procurement and promotion of local foods, pursuit of grant funding opportunities, and support of agriculture education.
