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Congressional candidate walks district
John Anderson travels across congressional district on foot
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Most candidates “run” for office.
Republican 4th District Congressional candidate John Anderson is “walking” for office – walking across the entire 16-county district that is.
Anderson, a school math and Spanish teacher by trade, passed through Warren County last week, his progress slowed as he took shelter from the rain in front of Nurse One on Old Shelbyville Road while tending to blisters he had already worked up during his journey.
“This is the first time I’ve run for anything,” Anderson admitted, noting he intends to walk 750 miles across the district. “This is a huge district. It’s 6,000 square miles. I’ll be on the road for nine weeks.”
The Bell Buckle resident said he decided to walk across the district to show one man can make a difference and also to hear what the people of the district are saying.
“I’m hearing a lot of despondency. A lot of people have given up hope,” Anderson revealed, noting he plans to be part of the cure, not part of the problem. “We are going to save America and see there’s greater prosperity and personal freedom.”
Anderson said it is time to move past “glib talking points” so many politicians use and to settle on a plan that will restore the country.
“The real congress is the American people,” he said in urging citizens to attend public meetings and voice their opinions.
Anderson says he has a four-point plan, the entirety of which can be seen on his website – www.johnanderson4congress.com.
The first part of the plan is for congressmen to serve one term and leave office. Anderson says he will just serve one term if elected. Also, he plans to work a 50-week year “like the rest of America does.” He also says there should be no secrecy in Congress and that all meetings should be open. His fourth idea is to make sure members of Congress have to read every word of every bill before they vote.
Anderson knows he has an uphill battle against incumbent Scott DesJarlais, who he likes, and state Sen. Jim Tracy, who he referred to as a “big-money candidate.”
Regardless, he said he will remain in the fight until the primary in August. That fight includes walking the entire district and listening to voters.

Local farm partnership brings fresh beef to Warren County Schools
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Warren County Schools has beefed up lunch menus this school year through a new community partnership. Thanks to a collaboration between the district’s School Nutrition Department and Barton Creek Farms, students at Warren County High School, Warren County Middle School, West Elementary, Eastside Elementary, and Dibrell Elementary are enjoying locally sourced, farm-fresh beef in their lunches as part of a pilot program.

The initiative, spearheaded by Terri Mullican, Director of School Nutrition, has already shown great promise in its first few months. The partnership with Barton Creek Farms, located in Rock Island, Tennessee, ensures that the beef served is not only local to Warren County but of the highest quality. Barton Creek Farms specializes in farm-to-fork beef, with grass-fed and grain-finished cattle. Each calf is born and raised in Rock Island and goes through USDA-inspected processing, ensuring it meets the strictest safety and quality standards.

“When the opportunity arose to provide fresh, local beef, we knew it was a no-brainer,” Mullican said. “The fact that it’s a product from right here in our community makes it even more special. We can’t wait to implement it district-wide.”

Barton Creek Farms delivers fresh ground beef to the district monthly, and the nutrition

department incorporates it into homemade recipes such as lasagna, meatloaf, chili, and tacos.

As of now, the beef is being served at five schools, but the ultimate goal is to expand the program to all ten lunch-serving schools in the district.

The pilot program originated from a conversation between Mary Roller of Barton Creek Farms and Mullican. Roller, recognizing the farm’s potential to support local schools, reached out to gauge the district’s interest in serving local beef to students. Around the same time, a Warren County school board member contacted Mullican to share information about a similar partnership in neighboring Dekalb County, which helped push the initiative forward.

The timing worked in the district’s favor, as the nutrition department was able to fund the purchase of the beef using existing resources, eliminating the need for additional funding. Now that the pilot program is enjoying a successful run, the department has budgeted to extend the partnership district-wide for the 2025-26 school year.

Dr. Grant Swallows, Director of Schools, praised the program’s economic approach to student nutrition.

“This pilot is a perfect example of how we can use local resources to continue providing nutritious, healthy meals for our students,” he said. “We are grateful for partnerships like this one that benefit both our students and our local community. We always strive to support our local businesses when we can because our community is so good to us.”

In addition to working with Warren County Schools, Barton Creek Farms also partners with local restaurants to offer farm-fresh beef on their menus. The farm’s offerings include ground beef, steaks, roasts, and custom cuts by the quarter, half, or whole cow, meeting diverse consumer needs.

As the program continues to grow, the district hopes to expand its focus on farm-to-school meals, benefiting students’ health and connecting them to the agricultural roots of the community