Steamboat Springs School District to try out bison dogs

[Read the original article by Jack Weinstien, Steamboat Pilot here.]

Steamboat Springs — Bison is the newest menu item in the Steamboat Springs School District.

Nutritional Services Director Max Huppert just got his first order of bison hot dogs. They’ll be served Feb. 11.

Introducing bison is another way Huppert is trying to change how Steamboat students eat. It’s not easy, but that doesn’t stop him from trying.

“It’s really hard to get kids to try new things and get off the fast food they’re used to,” Huppert said.

Huppert bought the bison hot dogs from Bear Mountain Ranch, located about three miles past the Walden turnoff over Rabbit Ears Pass on U.S. Highway 40.

Meredith Rumsey, who works for the 10,000-acre ranch to promote bison in Steamboat restaurants and now the school district, contacted Huppert in December.

She said her main focus is to keep a product from the Steamboat area in the local economy and to get people excited about a healthy product. Rumsey said bison is leaner than skinless chicken breast.

Huppert toured the ranch in late December, sampled some of its products and left impressed.

“There’s not really that much that is local,” he said. “This is 100 percent local. It’s farmed and processed in Routt County. It helps out two separate entities and keeps tax dollars in Routt County. It’s a quality product. The only downside is the price.”

[Read the full article on the Steamboat Pilot site.]