Sheep Industry News April 2024

Kentucky School District Puts Lamb on Lunch Menu L amb, it’s what’s for lunch. That was true for students in Woodford County (Ky.) Public Schools on two special days this semester. “We just got an email out of the blue about buying some of our lamb,” he said. “She ordered 500 pounds, so we had to process a bunch of lambs to have enough to supply her order. After talking about all of the different possibilities, we settled on bone-in legs and shoulders. She prepared it, seasoned it and cooked it. They cooked the lamb and

Woodford County Food Service Director Courtney Quire took advantage of a Local Foods for Schools grant from the Kentucky Department of Agriculture to purchase meat from Four Hills Farm, providing countless children in the county with their first taste of American lamb. “I’ve mainly used the grant to purchase local beef,” Quire said. “But I got this crazy idea and started thinking about what else we had here in the county that would be avail able. The beef I was getting was from Frankfort – which is close, but not in the county. I got online and started look ing and found Four Hills Farm, so I thought that would be a neat opportunity.” Located in Versailles, Ky., Four Hills Farm is in Wood ford County, and Chief Executive Officer Jim Mansfield was more than happy to work with the local school district.

shredded it and served it like a barbecue sandwich.” The American Lamb Board said it wasn’t familiar with any other public school districts who had served lamb in recent years. ALB said you’ll find lamb on menus at some colleges and universities in the United States, but local school districts are a virtually untapped market for Ameri can lamb. “I’m glad to be the first – potentially,” Quire said. “I’m not familiar with any other districts who have served lamb either. I really love that I am able to give our kids the op portunity to try things they wouldn’t normally get to try in a school lunch.”

Photos Courtesy of Courtney Quire

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