The South Dakota Crunch Off is an annual statewide event celebrating local produce and farm-to-school by crunching into any South Dakota-grown fruit or vegetable. Anyone can participate. South Dakota Crunch Off events may occur anytime from September 15 to October 31.
In 2023, SD had 2,749 crunches from 15 cities. In 2024, SD had 6,562 crunches from 15 cities. Let’s increase again in 2025. Root for South Dakota by registering a crunch team.
The South Dakota Crunch-Off is part of a multi-state competition. States throughout the region (Colorado, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming) compete to achieve the most per capita “crunches” into local produce, nuts, popcorn, and meat. Register your team’s crunches using the form below by October 31 to help South Dakota win the Mountain Plains Crunch Off Crown! You must register your event to be counted.
How to Crunch
- Organize a Crunch Team! Examples include classes, grades, schools, districts, 4-H clubs, boy and girl scouts, daycares, farms, farmers markets, clinics, churches, offices, events and more! Anyone may participate.
- Decide what you will crunch and where you will get it! You may crunch any local fruit or vegetable, such as apples, carrots, cucumbers, peppers and more, such as nuts, popcorn, or meat beef/meat sticks. Local food purchases are encouraged. Donations from local food producers are also welcome.
- Create your Crunch Event plan! Check out the "Crunch Event Activities" at the bottom of this page for optional educational activities to do along with your crunch off event.
- Register! You must register to be counted! Registration will close on the last day of the event so be sure to register your crunches before the event is over.
- Promote your Crunch event! Share your event on social media, print media, school announcements, newsletters, local media outlets, etc. There are promotional templates available for your use. Use the hashtags #SoDakCrunch and #MountainPlainsCrunch when posting.
- Photo sign – available to print and hold for group photos.
Additional Crunch Resources
- Schools and Early Care and Education Sites: You have many opportunities to get involved. Consider registering an event for a class, a grade, or the whole school or district. Have a “crunch at lunch.” Local produce could be incorporated into the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) or lunch meal. Individual classrooms may opt to crunch at snack time. The crunch could be incorporated into classroom lessons of many topics for any age. Register to be counted!
- Producers: Without you, the Crunch Off isn’t possible. For commercial growers and hobby gardeners alike, this is an opportunity to engage with your surrounding area. Produce can be sold or donated. Consider sharing this event with area schools and early care settings and offering to provide the produce, or host a crunch event on your farm or orchard. Register to be counted!
- Families, Offices, Small Groups, Individuals, or Others: You are the local food enthusiasts of South Dakota! Gather a group of any size and share photos of your crunch event! Consider sharing fun facts with your posts or making recipes with your Crunch produce and sharing them with your group as you Crunch together. Register to be counted!
- Source local food from a food hub. (Eastern South Dakota – Dakota Fresh Food Hub)
- Find a local farmer or farmer’s market. Helpful tools include Dakota Rural Action’s Local Foods Directory and SD Specialty Producers Association’s “Find Local Foods” feature.
- Have a school or community garden or orchard? Source directly from there.
- Know a Master Gardener in your area? Ask if they have a connection to local crunchable produce.
- Have a garden or apple trees or know someone who does? Donate to a crunch event!
- School and Childcare Foodservice
- Ask your distributor if they carry local apples or other local produce.
- Raw, unprocessed fruits and vegetables can be donated or sold to federal child nutrition programs, such as School Nutrition Programs, Child and Adult Care Feeding Programs, or Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Programs. Child Nutrition Programs (such as schools) can purchase raw, unprocessed foods from any vendor (such as a fruit or vegetable producer) that they have identified as an "approved source", so long as the vendor appropriately follows applicable state, federal, and local laws governing their business. Visit the SD Department of Education Division of Child and Adult Nutrition Services website or reference the South Dakota Farm to School Resource Guide for more information on local sales and purchases.
While your South Dakota Crunch Off event can be as simple as crunching into a local fruit, vegetable, nuts, popcorn or meat and snapping a photo, it can also be a great opportunity to learn about local agriculture and nutrition, especially when involving youth. The following activities are available for your use.
- Crunch Off Crown – print, color, and glue together to wear
- Word search
- Crossword – elementary
- Grow Getters (Pre-K to 3rd Grade)
- Growing Active Readers Curriculum (Pre-K to 2nd Grade)
- Pick it! Try it! Like it!
How many crunch teams can we have?
You may have as many crunch teams as makes sense for you. Each team should primarily be made up of different people (i.e. not the same group crunching multiple times). For example, if you are a school foodservice director serving local apples to middle school students one day and local cucumbers to elementary students another day, you may find it easiest to record those as two teams/events. Or, you may choose to combine them when you record the crunches. As long as the total number of Crunch Off participants is recorded, they can be grouped together for one team or divided among many teams as makes sense for you.
Can we record more than one crunch event?
You should only record one crunch event per team. If you are on or lead more than one team, then you would record one time per team.
I am a producer who wants to donate to a crunch event. Can you help connect me to a crunch event?
Yes! We would be happy to connect you to a local crunch event. Contact Jessica Meuleners if you are interested in donating.
