Spaghetti was Thursday’s hot meal lunch option across all of Bulloch County Schools’ 15 campuses, and some of the ground beef used was from Hunter Cattle Company in Brooklet. A local, family farm, this was the first time that the company’s beef was used by the school district.
School Nutrition Director Desiree Yaeger invited the company’s owners to visit Stilson Elementary School's cafeteria to celebrate the new partnership and see children enjoy the meal with their product. The company and its farm are located just a short four miles from the school.
Kristan Fretwell, an owner and marketer for the company, and her sons ate lunch with Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten students, who gave the meal a thumbs up. Fretwell also had an opportunity to share more of her company’s origin story and purpose with Superintendent of Schools Charles Wilson, Stilson administrators, and Yaeger.
She shared that the family never intended to be farmers. Her father, Del Ferguson, originally started raising grass-fed beef to provide a healthier meat option for their family. It wasn’t long before word-of-mouth made Hunter Cattle Co. a sought-after supplier to families, restaurants, and stores. Now three generations of the family live and work on the farm which has expanded to pasture-raised pork, chicken and specialty products.
“The only reason we’re still here is our community coming and buying from us,” Fretwell said. “We’ve been able to shift and grow based on the needs of our community.”
Businesses like Hunter Cattle Co. are helping local Georgia school nutrition programs, like Bulloch County Schools', build a culinary culture in our school cafeterias.
