A gap program to feed Rochester students enters its third year

ROCHESTER — A third-grade class at Riverside Elementary School began their Tuesday morning with a visit from Rochester Mayor Kim Norton. That same day, Sept. 8, students across the school could also snack on a locally grown apple. "We want everyone to have enough food on their table so they have a good breakfast, a good lunch and a good dinner," Norton said to the third graders. The Apple a Day program, coordinated by regional food rescue organization Equity Eats, makes locally grown apples available to students at five Rochester public schools for the first few weeks of the school year. The program is now in its third year, said Lisa Schutz, executive director of Equity Eats. "Each apple is ready for consumption," Schutz said. "It's been cleaned and carefully picked by our farmers." Apple a Day fills a gap at the start of the school year. These schools participate in the federal Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, Norton said, which provides produce for students to snack on. But that federal program begins two to three weeks after the first day of classes, once schools can confirm their enrollment numbers. "We wanted to make sure, those first few weeks, we didn't have children that came to school hungry because we know how important those first few weeks of school are," Norton said. In its first two years, Apple a Day provided 17,500 servings of apples to more than 3,250 students and families. "They also want to know where their food comes from and also have really embraced the fresh food," Schutz said of the students. "Last year we had a student that chose an apple instead of a bag of chips." The program also garnered $15,000 in revenue for local apple growers. Apple a Day is funded by donations and community sponsors. "When you're able to stimulate your local economy and feed your community well, there's just nothing more rewarding than that," Schutz said. When Apple a Day sunsets for the year, Equity Eats phases in the Farm Shares to Shelves program. The organization stocks local food — produce, eggs and sometimes bread or pasta — in schools' resource rooms. Rochester Mayor Kim Norton and Lisa Schutz, executive director of SE MN Food Rescue & Redistribution, visit a third-grade class at Riverside Central Elementary School to celebrate the third year of "Apple a Day" on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026, in Rochester. The "Apple a Day" program brings fresh, locally grown apples to students while creating purchasing opportunities for regional farmers. "You can imagine a family coming in and saying, 'I'm short on my groceries this week. Is there help?'" Schutz said. "And then the resource room in our Rochester Public Schools provides a food shelf for those families to come and shop." In that third-grade classroom, Norton fielded questions from students about how she became mayor, where she works and what she does during the day. "Every single day is different in the mayor's office. I go to meetings, I meet with people, I have meetings online," Norton said. "I also get to do fun things, like I go to schools and I get to read to students sometimes." Other schools that participate in the Apple a Day program include John Marshall High School, Gage Elementary School, Jefferson Elementary School and the Rochester Alternative Learning Center.