Manistee Area Public Schools Food Service Director Keri Carlson loves the responses of children to the flavors and connection to Michigan that 10 Cents* has provided.

“We got some plums back in October and they were small this year, and so my elementary kids said we got ‘jumbo grapes’,” she said. “’No, honey, those are plums, and they are grown right here in Michigan.’ They absolutely loved them. We were surprised at how many they took. We would have students come with three, four, five on a tray.”

“I think that students, when they eat something and we can tell them that it was grown near here, they relate to that. It is interesting to see.” —Keri Carlson, Manistee Area Public Schools

*Michigan’s 10 Cents A Meal for Michigan's Kids & Farms is a successful state pilot that provides schools with up to 10 cents a meal in match funding to purchase and serve Michigan-grown fruits, vegetables, and legumes. Originally a $250,000 state pilot in prosperity regions 2 and 4, lawmakers and Gov. Rick Snyder expanded 10 Cents A Meal for the 2017-2018 school year to also include prosperity region 9 with an increased budget of $375,000.  The is one in a series of stories documenting 10 Cents A Meal for Michigan's Kids & Farms.