On May 24, Jason Mahlen, co-owner of Lower Valley Processing, poured diced mushrooms into a grinder mixer. He then moved to the front of the machine where the mushrooms blended with ground beef were stamped into roughly 240 hamburger patties.

“I’ll take them if no one has spoken for them,” Somers-Lakeside School District Food Services Director Robin Vogler said. “I’m going to menu them next week.”

The mushroom beef patties are the first test batch of a new hamburger recipe. The mushrooms replace soy fillers, which cut the ingredient list in half.

The new recipe is part of a pilot project to incorporate the mushroom beef patties into school cafeterias. In addition to Somers-Lakeside, Kalispell Public Schools and Whitefish School District are participating in the pilot project.

Participating school districts received monetary incentives up to $500, depending on school size, from the Mushroom Council to pilot the mushroom beef patties in their school cafeterias.

Vogler and Kalispell Public Schools Food Service Director Lorie Hafer looked at the patties, which are indistinguishable from an all-beef patty.

“The mushrooms and beef have the same texture and flavor — umami, which is savory,” said Jeremy Plummer, co-owner of Lower Valley Processing.

The ingredient list will be shortened to mushrooms, beef and salt.

The reason why ingredients other than beef are added is to increase volume — which cuts cost — and add nutrition while cutting out fat in accordance with the National School Lunch Program.

Soy is not optimal as an added ingredient, according to Hafer and Vogler, because it is a dry ingredient. Water has to be added, which doesn’t increase nutrition.

“Mushrooms cut down on the sodium, reduces the calories and lowers the cholesterol,” Hafer said.

Hayes said people may be surprised to learn that mushrooms also contain phytonutrients, meaning they are beneficial in fighting diseases in people. Depending on how they are grown, some mushrooms may also contain vitamin D.

Mushrooms also count as a vegetable serving, according to registered dietitian Dayle Hayes, who is a consultant to the Mushroom Council and to Montana Team Nutrition.

Hayes said several commercial processors that serve school districts have used mushrooms with beef successfully for several years.

Hayes, who is also a member of the Montana Beef to School Coalition, reached out to the three school districts when she learned they were using local beef.

“One of the obstacles in serving local beef is always cost. You’re looking for ways to minimize cost and maximize opportunities for schools to use local beef,” Hayes said.

Vogler added, “It’s very cost-effective for us.”

Kalispell Public Schools helped lead the way in when it made the switch to local beef patties in 2012 under Jenny Montague (the food services director at that time), who coordinated with Plummer.

“We send hundreds of pounds of local beef that I buy live from a local farmer to the school kids every week of the school year,” Plummer said.

Most schools in the Flathead are using a percentage of local beef whether they buy through Plummer or other beef suppliers.

Although serving school districts is a very small percentage of his business, it keeps it diverse and benefits more than just his business.

“It’s pretty much created benefits across the board,” Plummer said. “I get to buy and sell local. For these guys, they’re getting a premium product and the money stays local.”

For more information visit, www.mushroomsinschools.com and http://farmtocafeteria.ncat.org/beef-to-school.

Hilary Matheson is a reporter for The Daily Inter Lake. She may be reached at 758-4431 or [email protected].