Pleasant Valley School District Celebrates Beef Month with Local Flavor and Community Collaboration
Pleasant Valley, PA (May 21, 2025) — The Pleasant Valley School District celebrated Beef Month this spring as part of their participation in the PA Beef to PA Schools program. Overseen by the Pennsylvania Beef Council, the PA Beef to PA Schools program (PBPS) connects school districts with farmers to provide locally sourced, fresh beef. The aim of the program is to put more beef, more often on students’ lunch trays. Now in its third year, the PBPS program serves 120 school districts and covers more than 70% of the state, providing more than 212,000 students across the Commonwealth with high-quality, locally sourced beef.
Pleasant Valley hosted a series of events across four school locations in celebration of Beef Month. The events emphasized the importance of local agriculture, nutritious school meals sourced through local farmers, and the value of collaboration between the district’s schools and Pennsylvania’s beef producers, including Happy Valley Meat Company, which supplies local beef to the district.
Working closely with Whitsons Culinary Group, which oversees food service for the district, Pleasant Valley brought farm-fresh beef directly to students’ plates, with locally sourced menu items at each event. These celebrations aimed to educate students about where their food comes from while supporting Pennsylvania’s beef industry.
The events took place over several weeks and featured the following school-specific meals that placed beef front and center on students’ trays.
- Pleasant Valley Intermediate School – April 3: Beef Fajitas
- Pleasant Valley Elementary School – April 11: Cheeseburger Sliders
- Pleasant Valley Middle School – April 25: Beef Kielbasa and Pierogies
- Pleasant Valley High School – May 2: Beef Kielbasa and Pierogies
Each event was met with enthusiasm from students and staff alike. Eric Ventriglia, General Manager for Whitsons, shared, "We had wonderful events at each of our schools and were joined by representatives and beef advocates Dan and Kirsch from Happy Valley Meat Company. The kids were ecstatic about the beef, and we saw a 10% increase in school lunch event participation."
Participation in PBPS not only beefs up the district’s meal offerings with nutrient-rich, locally sourced beef, but it also boosts students’ health and academic performance and deepens their understanding of the agricultural industry in their community. The partnership provides both families and communities with the assurance that their children are consuming meals prepared with nutrient-dense, high-quality ingredients.
The program’s support of local farmers creates a direct channel for their products to reach local consumers, many for the first time. The PA Beef Council, Pleasant Valley School District, and Whitsons Culinary Group are proud to champion the economic vitality of Pennsylvania’s ag industry.
For more information about Whitsons Culinary Group please visit www.Whitsons.com. To learn more about the PA Beef to PA Schools Program contact Nichole Hockenberry, PA Beef Council Executive Director at [email protected] or 1-888-4BEEFPA.
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The Pennsylvania Beef Council is a producer-controlled and funded organization, which administers the Beef Checkoff Program in Pennsylvania. The Beef Checkoff Program assesses $1 per head on the sale of live domestic and imported cattle, in addition to a comparable assessment on imported beef and beef products. Checkoff revenues may be used for promotion, education and research programs to improve the marketing climate for beef.