Lakeview Students Treated to Grill-out of Homegrown Beef

COLUMBUS, Neb. - Students at Columbus Lakeview had the chance to have a delicious lunch that came from a nearby source. The school kicked off its 'Farm to School' program after a generous donor gifted the school a cow. So, the school decided to grill-out and feed the students burgers on Friday. "I went to the FFA program and said, 'I can't do this alone, can we do this together?' And I know she's doing some really awesome stuff with the green house and ag program, so i thought we could work together and this is what we came up with today," says Jenny Sloup, food services manager at Lakeview. The FFA was proud to assist Sloup, with the officers taking charge of the event. "My officers today, they're serving the lunch-line, they helped with grilling out the burgers and they are also facilitating a game," says FFA advisor Katherine Ripp. While this may be the first meat product donated to the school, one FFA officer, senior Jacob Sprunk, recently donated 20 gallons of homemade honey to the school district. "(It's) a good way to give back to the community, I went to the school and the school was looking for some for the elementary schools, so I figured that would be a great way to help them," says Sprunk. The meat had to go through the proper channels, including state certification, before being given away to eat to Lakeview students. Ripp says she believes the students really enjoy eating their meals with local products and they hope to hold similar events in the future, including grill-outs at both elementary schools. "Just to have more local, the kids really take ownership in that, they enjoy eating the lunch if they know where their food is coming from," says Ripp.