Gaston County Schools expands summer meal bundles, highlights on-site farm and greenhouse plans

GASTONIA, N.C. — Gaston County Schools' nutrition director outlined plans to expand summer meal service and described growth of the district-run farm during the Board of Education meeting on May 19.

The district's school nutrition director, Angela, told the board the system continues to run the National School Breakfast and Lunch Program, the Child and Adult Care Feeding after-school snack program and summer feeding. She said breakfast participation is about 10,500 daily meals and lunch participation is over 20,000 daily meals, and the district now has 45 schools participating in the Community Eligibility Provision, which eliminates meal applications at those sites.

Angela said nine school sites will serve hot breakfast and lunch beginning June 9 and six community sites will offer non-congregate, take-home meal bundles. "Last year we did 4- and 5-day bundles. This year we're going to do 7-day bundles because it was such a huge success," she said. The district will also deliver cold bag lunches to roughly 50–60 community camp sites. The program will be posted on the district website and by phone, she said.

Nut graf: The school nutrition presentation flagged operational stability and local sourcing as priorities: the program is maintaining a positive enterprise fund balance, expanding locally grown produce through a contracted farm operator, and piloting a hydroponic greenhouse to provide year-round lettuce for the central kitchen.

Details and context: Angela said the program has maintained a positive fund balance of approximately $4,500,000 while facing increased food, supply and labor costs. She described a partnership with Deep Roots to operate the district farm at Central Kitchen and said strawberries, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and collard greens have been grown successfully. The school nutrition director said the greenhouse will support year-round hydroponic lettuce production to reduce reliance on out-of-region suppliers.

Angela noted the summer non-congregate option is authorized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and allows families to receive multi-day meal bundles to take home when daily attendance at a feeding site is difficult. She said families can choose 4-day or 7-day bundles depending on storage needs.

Board members asked clarifying questions. Board Chair Josh Crisp praised the program; Chad Duncan, the county athletic director, asked how many school systems in North Carolina operate a farm, and Angela said she was aware of one other district with a farm program. Board members and staff commended the work, noting the program supports employment for nutrition staff in summer months.

Action: The board approved the nutrition action item on the agenda to adopt school calendar dates for 2025–26 (motion by Jeff Ramsey; second by Janice Smith). Angela also presented the annual list of bids for 2025–26 that exceed $90,000 for board consideration.

Ending: The board recorded appreciation for the farm-to-school efforts and the planned hydroponic greenhouse, and the nutrition director invited board members to tour the farm and central production facility.