What Happened?
The Watertown City School District in New York is leveraging support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to increase students’ access to locally-grown produce during the school year. The Farm to School Program works twofold to increase awareness of healthy food options in the region while growing business for local farmers.
Goal
The Watertown City School District is one of many systems working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm to School Program to increase economic opportunities for local producers while educating students on healthy eating habits. The program is designed to engage students in educational activities that emphasize food, farming and nutrition through hands-on activities and in-class instructions. Farm to School initiatives include:
- Offering locally-sourced food in cafeterias
- School gardening
- Farm visits
- Culinary classes
- Nutrition classes
The USDA supports these efforts by offering research, training, technical assistance and grants to local and regional groups.
The USDA encourages a wide variety of food producers to participate in the program: from farmers to ranchers to food processors. There are no specifications for what constitutes a local food producer. Communities can integrate healthy, local food options that work best for the school district and producers.
In Watertown, all farmers interested in participating in the Farm to School program must be certified through the USDA Good Agricultural Practices audit. This certification process involve a thorough review of the farm’s growing, packaging and transportation practices to ensure high-quality food production.
The Details
According to the USDA, schools participating in the School to Farm program in 2011-2012 purchased more than $385 million in local food. In addition:
- 44 percent of U.S. public school districts nationwide have an existing farm to school program
- 13 percent of school districts plan to launch one in the near future
- 40,328 schools participate in Farm to School initiatives
- 23,513,237 students are engaged with locally-sourced food and activities
- USDA offers $5 million in competitive grants for Farm to School projects
Eligible recipients of the Farm to School grants include schools and districts, tribal organizations, food producers, nonprofits and state or local agencies. The grants can be used to fund training, planning and development partnerships involved in:
- Creating menu items
- Establishing supply chains
- Offering taste tests to students
- Purchasing equipment
- Planting school gardens
- Organizing field trips
Grant recipients will receive awards ranging from $20,000 to $100,000 depending on the extent of the proposed strategy. Applicants must provide matching support of at least 25 percent of the total project budget in cash or in-kind contributions as well to qualify.
And Farm to School programs mean more than just adding extra vegetables to cafeteria lines. Of the schools involved in Farm to School efforts:
- 78 percent buy fruit
- 75 percent buy vegetables
- 37 percent buy fluid milk
- 22 percent buy baked goods
- 18 percent buy other dairy products
Many schools report plans to add plant-based proteins, herbs, meat and poultry, eggs and grains/flour to the menu as well. These healthy food options are being incorporated in breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and summer meal programs across the country.
The Economics of Local Farms
Gov1 has followed the booming trend of urban farming that is creating new economic opportunities in cities nationwide.