CANAL WINCHESTER, Ohio — A central Ohio farm is helping school districts give their school lunches a bit of a makeover.

Blystone Farm in Canal Winchester raises cattle and they're hoping that by providing school districts with fresh beef, minus the extra preservatives, they can help kids become healthier while they grow and learn.

• The farm produces a clean product without prolonging shelf life
• 25,000 burgers without preservatives and antibiotics delivered to schools 
• Blystone Farm hopes to partner with other school districts 

Farm owner Joe Blystone pushes open his barn door and heads inside to get a jumpstart on his day. He's been running the farm for over 20 years.

Getting all of the ingredients ready to feed his cattle, he says he's built his business on providing clean products to places like grocery stores.

And now he can add schools to that list. He recently struck deals with Canal Winchester, near Columbus and Hamilton City Schools, near Cincinnati. He's providing fresh beef for nearly 15,000 kids eating school lunches. 

Heading out in the rain on his tractor, Blystone says a lot of the food kids eat at school may be cheaper, but not necessarily healthier. Heading back into the barn to get a bale of hay, Blystone says, he was shocked when he learned what other large meat packing companies put in beef to prolong its shelf life.

"I was in awe that they put those chemicals in that product," said Blystone.

That's when he decided he wanted to try and help schools, help kids eat wholesome, healthy meals.

"We want to provide a product that you know it's not only gonna, it's not only gonna fill up a child's belly but it's, it's nutritious for them," Blystone said.

That's why he spends so much time preparing a feed of corn, straw, vitamins and minerals, because if the animals eat healthy, kids will too. 

So far, he's delivered 25,000 burgers to school districts. As business continues to grow, he's hoping he can tackle a piece of the childhood nutrition issue as he gives kids healthier food to eat.

Blystone says he wants to spend more time teaching kids about farming too so they can really understand where their food comes from. Aside from that, he's hoping he'll be able to partner with more school districts to provide students with lunch options that include healthy protein.