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Barto walking for healthier living
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David Barto is pictured with his replica of The Commons, a cultural and recreational area under development.

A man who is walking from the Chattanooga area to Nashville will be making a stop in McMinnville this Saturday.
David Barto, executive director of the Collegedale Tomorrow Foundation, embarked on a nine-day, 166-mile walk from Collegedale, Tenn., to Tennessee’s State Capitol on Tuesday. His goal is to raise support for The Commons, an eight-acre cultural and recreational regional destination currently being developed.
Barto is being joined on the walk with supporters to promote healthier living. At the Capitol, the team will request support and funding to match donations raised through their walk with the overall goal of raising $3.7 million.
The team will travel to a specific stop each day, including a stop in McMinnville on Saturday. Barto is scheduled to be at McMinnville City Hall at 6 p.m., and eat at Collins River BBQ at 6:45 p.m.
The Commons, located in Collegedale, Tenn., is planned to be the cultural, recreational and civic heart for the regional community. When complete, The Commons will house more than 60,000 square feet of open-air Farmers Market space, an outdoor soundstage, an event hall and a new community center, while hosting everything from marathon starts and movies in the park, to blue grass festivals and yoga on the green.
“The Commons will be the five-year culmination of the joint efforts of Collegedale city leaders, the Collegedale Tomorrow Foundation and the community, but, more importantly, this is the single most important regional health and wellness initiative ever undertaken by the leadership and citizens of Collegedale,” said Barto.

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