By Cris Greer, WKTV Managing Editor
It didn’t take long to feel the passion of Kids’ Food Basket Farm Manager Jason Lundberg.
“When I see a child smile at me and say that was the best cucumber they’ve ever eaten, it brings tears to my eyes,” said Lundberg, at the Kids’ Food Basket (KFB) farm he manages at 1300 Plymouth Ave. NE. “This is why I’m here and have been placed in this position at this point in my life.
“I can’t believe I now get to teach kids about all this cool stuff. It has just been magical.”
Breaking down racial barriers
“When kids are telling me I want to be a farmer now, that is huge to me,” Lundberg continued. “The average age of the American farmer is nearly 60, and most of them are white. Only 2 percent of these farmers are of color, and that’s another big reason for what I’m doing.
“We’re here to break down those barriers. The one thing we all have in common is food, and sitting down and breaking bread together is one of the most precious rights we have.”
The Pickerd family farm — 13 total acres
The KFB farm was owned and operated at one time by the family of Don and Eileen Pickerd, who farmed it up until 15 years ago. The land was farmed for well over 100 years; with apple and cherry trees as its mainstay.
The last remaining property in the city limits zoned for agriculture, KFB purchased the Pickerd farm six years ago. The farm is 13 total acres, including the main building, of which nine are farmed.
“We wanted to continue the tradition of growing food for the community,” Lundberg explained. “It’s pretty special and we want to keep it that way for many, many years to come. This property was going to be turned into a bunch of town homes and the neighborhood association didn’t really like that idea and the opportunity came up for KFB to move in.”
Nearly 139,000 servings of produce have been grown and distributed from the KFB Farm since July 1, 2021.
Lundberg’s deep farming roots
A lifelong farmer from Rockford before working at KFB, Lundberg spent his youth and beyond tending to the family farm, Ingraberg Farms, now Ingraberg Fresh Foods.
Born in Salinas, California, known as the “salad bowl of the world,” Lundberg said his father Dave was immersed in agriculture and saw organic foods picking up steam at the time.
His mom Helen would later inherit a 20-acre parcel of her parents’ farm in Rockford, so they moved from California to Michigan to eventually start Ingraberg Farms.
“I’ve been growing vegetables my whole life, and continued right out of high school doing it full time until Kids’ Food Basket,” said Lundberg, whose dad sold his produce to country clubs and restaurants, including The Bostwick Lake Inn, University Club, The Gilmore Collection, Noto’s and mom and pop businesses as well.
Farm camp
Every year when school ended for summer break in early June, his dad would have him recruit as many kids as possible to pick produce for him. Lundberg called it Farm Camp. Farmer Dave would make them breakfast and then they’d pick strawberries until it got too hot.
“And then we were turned loose and got to be kids and would bounce on the trampoline, swim in the lake and all that fun stuff.
“When I eat a fresh Michigan strawberry in June I’m instantly transported back to that time in my life which is one of my more cherished moments. That experience alone taught me why it’s so important for this farm itself.
“Even if I can only get a kid here for an hour, if I can give them a lifelong, lasting experience for that hour, we’ve done our job.”
KFB farm mission
Their goal is creating access to the community of super fresh, nourishing food, focusing on elementary age children, according to Lundberg.
The one thing that has stayed the same is the KFB flagship sack supper; a brown bag meal that goes home with the child after school. Children receive this before getting on the bus, and that’s their supper, consisting of one serving of fruit, vegetables, protein and a healthy snack.
Nearly 1.4 million meals have been provided by KFB since July 1, 2021, amounting to 9,600 meals a day across four west Michigan counties (Ottawa, Allegan, Muskegon and Kent). The meals are packed daily by 300 to 400 volunteers.
School field trips — stomping garlic?
“Last spring, we had hundreds of kids from kindergarten through fifth grade on the farm — our learn team was able to facilitate multiple field trips,” Lundberg said. “The kindergartners would do something like stomping our garlic plants to help them grow bigger, and the third and fourth graders could help us transplant into the field — and they get taste testings all the time.”
Nearly 4,400 students have participated in the KFB nutrition education curriculum since July 1, 2021.
Volunteers of all ages giving back
Husband and wife volunteers Gary and Chris Fraser-Lee are regulars at the KFB farm, often harvesting produce once or twice a week over the summer.
Gary began volunteering when he worked in the IT Department at Steelcase and then got his wife hooked as well.
“We started doing food prep and sack suppers inside, and then as soon as the farm opened up began working outside,” said Chris, a retired occupational therapist from the Northeast side of Grand Rapids. “We’re blessed to be able to retire early and we’re just enjoying life and giving back when we can.”
Gary said they enjoy being outside picking while volunteering.
“It’s good to serve the community, and realizing what they do not only with the food bags, but what they supply from the farm here in the food pantries,” Gary explained. “It’s a great community organization.”
Nearly 30 percent of its volunteers are under age 18. Overall, there have been nearly 45,000 volunteer hours since July 1, 2021.
Corporate volunteers making a dent
While strolling through the fields in September, Lundberg pointed to a group of volunteers from Steelcase picking cherry and grape tomatoes for the sack suppers for school children to take home at night.
“We’re probably going to get well over 100 pounds from them; that turns into 800 servings for 100 children,” Lundberg said. “They pick 100 to 200 pounds of cherry tomatoes every day in our little hour to 2-hour volunteer shifts in the morning. Every week throughout the growing season, we have volunteers from up to three corporate groups like Steelcase, FloRight, Perrigo, Amway, Meijer and MillerKnoll.”
Kids’ Food Basket: The very beginning (Kids’ Food Basket website)
“In 2002, Mary K. Hoodhood received a phone call that changed everything. A local school principal reached out and said students were regularly going into the cafeteria after school in search of food to take home. Mary identified an immediate need. With $3,000 and a handful of volunteers, she committed to providing a solution to childhood hunger in our community.“
Lundberg said Bridget Clark Whitney, president and founding CEO of KFB, had the vision of growing food for their sack suppers.
“She knew the importance of eating super fresh, phytonutrient rich foods that are alive and thriving and putting them directly into our body,” he explained. “We are all about elementary age kids because their bodies are developing and their brains are developing.”
Lundberg said the organization has evolved into so much more than just the access of food to children with its educational component and engagement of people and volunteers.
“They all get to see the full circle … It’s really neat to see how all of it connects, and of course when you get the kids here you get to see it all really come together.”
Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes, and potatoes
The produce that makes the biggest impact on the farm is cherry tomatoes, followed by potatoes and summer squash.
“It’s tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes,” Lundberg said. “Thousands and thousands of pounds of tomatoes every year, and thousands of pounds of summer squash. And this fall, we had close to 1,000 pounds of onions come out of the field growing in between the apple trees.”
In many ways, a dream come true
Lundberg still pinches himself while working on the KFB farm, admitting that it’s “truly a dream job.”
He has witnessed everything during the school field trips from kids picking and eating kale to their “many, many huge smiles” enjoying the farm while taste testing different produce and learning about things they never knew.
He has even heard some kids say they now want to be farmers when they grow up.
“Our CEO Bridget nailed it; it’s so much more than the food itself.”
