Begun in the 1990s with no more than a handful of farms and schools, the Farm to School movement brings together school cafeterias and local producers of fruit and vegetables.
Now grown to over 12,000 schools across the country, the Farm to School effort could help in improving nutrition with fresh fruit and vegetables, supporting small farms and local economies, and giving school staff the opportunity to work food into lesson plans.
According to Living Green, the Farm to School movement will get a boost from the USDA nutrition guidelines for school meal programs. “Beginning this Fall, nearly 32 million children participating in school meal programs will receive twice the previous amount of fruit and vegetables each day. While schools are not required to purchase locally grown food, they are allowed to use geographic preferences in procurement.”
See a video depicting kids and healthy food changes from the USDA and Congress from One Tray:
A list of existing case studies of farm and school partnerships in:
California: http://www.farmtoschool.org/state-programs.php?id=4
Colorado: http://www.farmtoschool.org/CO/programs.htm
Georgia: http://www.farmtoschool.org/GA/programs.htm
Hawaii: http://www.farmtoschool.org/HI/programs.htm
Maryland: http://www.farmtoschool.org/MD/programs.htm
Ohio: http://www.farmtoschool.org/OH/programs.htm
Oregon: http://www.farmtoschool.org/OR/programs.htm
Virginia: http://www.farmtoschool.org/VA/programs.htm
Washington http://www.farmtoschool.org/WA/programs.htm
Read more about upcoming Farm to School month in October here.
