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Strengthening Farm to School Programs—A Policy Brief for State & Local Legislators

By Matt Benson and Megan Lott

A publication of the Community Food Security Coalition and National Farm to School

Network

Acknowledgements

CDC Communities Putting Prevention to Work Grant Program

Thank you to the peer-review panel who provided valuable comments and suggestions that

significantly improved this policy brief. This includes

Dorothy Brayley, Kids First

Johanna Herron, Alaska Division of Agriculture

Anupama Joshi, National Farm to School Network

Marion Kalb, Community Food Security Coalition

Alyssa Moles, The Food Trust

Kathy Mulvey, Community Food Security Coalition

John Weidman, The Food Trust

Thank you to the individuals who provided valuable information and support for the case

studies. This includes

Becky Elias, Washington State Department of Agriculture

Johanna Herron, Alaska Division of Agriculture

Tricia Kovacs, Washington State Department of Agriculture

Andrea Northrup, D.C. Farm to School Network

Andrew Smiley, Sustainable Food Center

Sara Tedeschi, Wisconsin Farm to School Program, Center for Integrated

Agricultural Systems

Thank you to the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for their support. Thank you to the State and

Regional Leads of the National Farm to School Network who provided valuable information

for this project. Special thank you to Marion Kalb for her guidance in the development of

this document.

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Case Study 1: Alaska Due to the challenges of utilizing produce harvested in the state, in January 2009, Representative Carl Gatto introduced House Bill 70 into the Alaska State Legislature officially creating the Alaska Farm to School Program. Passed in May 2010, this bill initiated a permanent full-time position in the Department of Natural Resources, Division of Agriculture and directed this individual to develop the Alaska Farm to School Program (http://dnr.alaska.gov/ag/ag_FTS.htm) by connecting Alaska farmers with public school cafeterias, creating school gardens, school farms, and conducting farm visits. Shortly after passage, Johanna Herron was hired to lead the program as the Alaska Farm to School Coordinator. The goal of the Alaska Farm to School Program is to increase the procurement of Alaska product in the school environment through the support of school aged youth and school food service professionals. Since the passage of House Bill 70, the Alaska Farm to School Program has completed two Farm to School summits bringing together over 100 different stakeholders who provided valuable input to the program and creation of an Alaska Farm to School strategic plan. The Alaska Division of Agriculture has also funded seventeen local Farm to School projects through a mini-grant program designed to fund projects that connect more local and regional food to public school cafeterias, develop school gardens, and implement nutrition and agriculture education through taste tests. During this time, the Alaska Farm to School program also conducted three farm tours with the three largest school districts and five diverse farms around Anchorage, Fairbanks, and the Delta regions of Alaska. Because of funding an Alaska Farm to School Coordinator, outreach to hundreds of individuals and organizations has occurred, and diverse stakeholders including, Alaska 4-H, Alaska Future Farmers of America, the Alaska Farm Bureau, the Youth Alliance for Healthier Alaska, Alaska Youth for Environmental Action, Alaska Agriculture in the Classroom, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, Alaska Cooperative Extension Service and other University groups, Alaska School Nutrition Association, Child Nutrition Services, Alaska School Food Service Professionals, and other community advocates have been brought together around a common goal. Additionally, having an official State Farm to School Coordinator has allowed Alaska to play an active and leading role in the National Farm to School Network and the movement.

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Case Study 2: Texas Sustainable Food Center (SFC) began planning for a Farm to School project in 2005, and launched “Sprouting Healthy Kids,” (http://www.sustainablefoodcenter.org/sprouting-healthy-kids) a Farm to School and food systems education program in Austin, Texas in 2007. Over the years, SFC documented the challenges related to sourcing local food and evaluated the impact of the program. In 2009, SFC was invited to join the Partnership for a Healthy Texas, a coalition composed of 22 state agencies and organizations working to identify and support policy recommendations that positively impact the obesity epidemic. The Partnership for a Healthy Texas chose Farm to School as a priority during the 2009 Texas legislative session, largely as a result of the aforementioned documentation and evaluation by SFC. SFC drafted a white paper to introduce the concept of Farm to School to legislators, which formed the basis of legislation introduced by State Senator Kirk Watson in March 2009. When introduced, Senate Bill 1027 had no meaningful opposition, and easily went on to be passed in May 2009. Senate Bill 1027 established an Interagency Farm to School Coordination Task Force to advance the Texas Farm to School Program by making specific recommendations for state agency support that would allow more school systems to source food for their cafeterias from local and regional farms. This sixteen member Task Force developed a 25-page report, which summarized challenges faced by both schools and farmers to further developing Texas Farm to School. The report also presented several recommendations, including the creation of a state Farm to School Coordinator position within the Texas Department of Agriculture. Unfortunately, despite gaining approval from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to use National School Lunch Program State Administrative Expense funds from the USDA Food & Nutrition Service to support the position, due to state budgetary issues, the position has yet to be created. Rather than viewing this as a barrier to furthering Texas Farm to School, SFC, Texas Department of Agriculture, and other supporters are pursuing alternate strategies such as sourcing other funding for the position and identifying tasks that could be incorporated into existing positions within the Department.

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Case Study 3: Washington, D.C. In an effort to improve child health and wellness, D.C. Council Member Mary Cheh and Council Chairman Vincent Gray introduced the Healthy Schools Act in December of 2009. Among other things, the Healthy Schools Act requires D.C. schools to meet the United States Department of Agriculture’s Healthier U.S. Gold nutrition standards for school meals and to serve minimally processed foods from sustainable, local growers whenever possible. In May of 2010, the bill passed unanimously in the Council and was signed by the Mayor, effective for the 2010-2011 school year. The legislation creates an extra 5-cent reimbursement for meals that include locally grown and unprocessed foods and a 10-cent reimbursement for meals that meet the updated nutrition requirements. Schools are also required to promote and educate students and staff about eating local and sustainable food, and participate in at least one Farm to School educational event each year (such as a Farm to School Week). Additionally, the Healthy Schools Act requires schools to be held accountable to their Local Wellness Policies, which should include a Farm to School component. Finally, the Healthy Schools Act establishes a school garden grant program within the state education agency. To pay for these new provisions, specifically the increase in reimbursement for school meals, the legislation extended the D.C. sales tax to include soda purchased within the District. During this legislative process, numerous community partnerships were formed between the D.C. Farm to School Network (http://dcfarmtoschool.org), teachers, parents, farmers, food service providers, environmental organizations, farmers’ market directors, and health advocates. These partnerships proved essential when advocates had to go head-to-head with the soda industry to keep this revenue stream, and then again defend funding for the Act from budget cuts across the District in 2010. Due to the recent passage of this legislation, it is difficult to measure the full impact it will have; however, to date, there have been higher participation rates in school breakfast programs, a school garden coordinator has been hired, and many schools are currently renewing their food service contracts with provisions that comply with the Healthy Schools Act (http://dchealthyschools.org).

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Case Study 4: Washington State Due to a wealth of support from diverse stakeholder groups, (including agricultural, environmental, education, and child-welfare advocates) the 2008 Local Farms-Healthy Kids Act was introduced in the Washington State Legislature by Representative Eric Pettigrew. This legislation was designed to connect schools with community-based farms and provide the necessary information and technical assistance to both schools and farmers by establishing a Farm to School Program in the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA). It also created the Washington Grown Fruits and Vegetables Program, and adapted government purchasing policies to help direct state dollars towards local farms and food sellers. The Local Farms-Healthy Kids Act passed with only one dissenting vote and was signed into law by the Governor in March of 2008. The policy initially allocated funding for 2.5 employees and the Washington Grown Fruit and Vegetables Program, however funding for one employee was eliminated before the program was initiated. Additionally, the fruit and vegetable program was cut by half after one year, and eliminated the following year. Despite these cuts, the WSDA Farm to School Program conducted statewide outreach to increase awareness of, and participation in, Farm to School and sought funding for additional projects. The WSDA team presented on Farm to School topics at more than fifty events, reaching an estimated 1,500 people and their listserv now has over 650 members who share and receive information about Farm to School, including news, events, job and funding opportunities, research and government updates. The WSDA Farm to School Program worked directly with over one hundred school districts and fifty farms to support successful Farm to School sales relationships. Furthermore, the WSDA Farm to School team has worked with local groups in the state to support regional Farm to Cafeteria conferences and respond to geographically specific needs. The team developed an innovative training model using mobile tours to provide an opportunity for farms and schools to see each other in action and learn about the realities of on-farm and school kitchen operations, including hands-on cooking training using local produce. These events use a peer-to-peer training model that empowers the farmers and foodservice staff to share their experience and expertise with one another. Mobile tours have been conducted in five locations around the state, with more planned for the future. In 2009, WSDA partnered for the first time with Washington School Nutrition Association on Taste Washington Day, an annual celebration of Washington grown foods served in school meals, resulting in more than sixty schools and fifty local farms teaming up to celebrate Washington-grown produce and teach kids about healthy eating habits by featuring locally-sourced meals in the school cafeterias. Survey responses indicated $17,000 was spent on Washington grown products for that day’s lunch and schools planned to spend $90,000 more on Washington products during the following six months. The WSDA has been awarded over $700,000 in externally funded grants to enhance the Washington Farm to School Program, and assisted numerous organizations in garnering an additional $659,000 in grants to support related efforts throughout the state. State funding for the WSDA Farm to School Program was eliminated in 2011, although the team will continue working on grant-funded Farm to School projects over the next couple of years. These projects include critical training on regulatory requirements for bidding and contracting, food safety education and assistance for farms and schools, and continued development of a web-based resource toolkit for Farm to School (www.wafarmtoschool.org).

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Case Study 5: CPPW Success—Wisconsin By strengthening local and state Farm to School programs, Wisconsin is addressing growing concerns about public health related to childhood obesity and diabetes, and focusing on stimulating rural and agricultural economies by supporting small and medium farms. With support from a Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) grant, diverse stakeholders including teachers, farmers, public health advocates, and community-based educators are promoting more physical activity, greater health and nutrition, and economic development in La Crosse and Wood Counties, and across Wisconsin. In La Crosse and Wood Counties, projects include connecting local and regional farm products to school cafeterias and cultivating school gardens. Organizations and individuals are also updating school wellness policies to include Farm to School goals, encouraging healthy vending options, and organizing more physical activity opportunities for youth and the community at-large. At the state level, CPPW funding has provided for training and technical assistance across the state, including the completion of two web-based Farm to School toolkits, specifically targeting School Nutrition Directors and producers with the tools, resources, and strategies to successfully purchase and market local and regional foods. Additionally, a Wisconsin Farm to School summit is being planned for early 2012 and a state level Wisconsin Farm to School advisory council has been convened, with representation from state agencies, stakeholder groups, and advocacy partners. With CPPW support, Wisconsin is able to direct expertise and resources to support, develop, and evaluate its Farm to School programs in hopes of changing state policy to include funding for Farm to School. Networks and organizations are also increasingly communicating, building grass-root coalitions, sharing resources, and partnering to strengthen Wisconsin Farm to School for long-term success.