Communications Toolkit

New York Grown Food for New York KidsNew York Grown Food for New York Kids is a coalition of over 70 organizations and stakeholders that support Farm to School and work to help K-12 Schools purchase

and serve more New York Grown food to our kids

(Right-click this image to save) Photo Credit: Nancy J. Parisi, courtesy of American Farmland Trust

In this Toolkit

Introduction Talking Points Growing Opportunity Report Social Media Posts Newsletter Blurb

www.finys.org/nyfood4nykids

IntroductionOver the past two years, Governor Cuomo and the State Legislature worked together to advance programs in the State Budget to put more schools on the path to purchase and serve healthy, local food to our children. This included $10 million in funding for the Farm to School Incentive each year, which provides the financial support for schools to purchase New York grown food by quadrupling the current school meal reimbursement to 25 cents for schools spending 30 percent of their lunch budget on food from New York farms, and $1.5 million for the Farm to School grants program to help put schools on the pathway to purchase more New York Grown food and reach 30%.

Beginning in June 2019, AFT/FINYS began researching how the incentive program has impacted schools’ ability to buy more New York grown food, and what it might accomplish in future years. The recent “Growing Opportunity” report released by American Farmland Trust in January 2020 reveals that 72% of schools feel confident that with the right support, they will achieve 30% by 2024. This would increase access to local food for over 700,000 students and increase the amount schools spend on food from New York farms to nearly $150 million with a total statewide economic impact of over $210 million while costing the state less than half that amount by 2024.

In his FY2021 Executive Budget Proposal, Governor Cuomo proposed to continue the Farm to School Incentive at $10 million for lunch, and proposed to continue funding the Farm to School Grants program at $1.5 million. American Farmland Trust/Farm to Institute New York State and the statewide 'New York Grown Food for New York Kids' coalition:

Strongly supports the proposed $10 million appropriation in the Education Budget for the Farm to School Purchasing Incentive as a critical way to continue to help schools purchase and serve more New York grown food, and wishes to see this proposal included in the Enacted State Budget.

Recognizes that the Farm to School grants provide critical investment into the staff time, equipment, and training necessary to help K-12 Schools reach 30% local purchasing. As over $3 million in applications were submitted for $1.5 million in available funds for this popular program for the past two years, we request an increase in funding for the Farm to School Grants Program in the FY2021 Enacted State Budget to $3 million to invest in a statewide network of Farm to School coordinators, training, and equipment that will help schools achieve 30% local purchasing.

Supports language proposed in the Article Vll TED bill, page 262, which, if included in the final enacted state budget would harmonize the state Small Purchase Threshold to the Federal Threshold, increasing the flexibility schools have to spend their food dollars at local farms.

This toolkit is intended to provide members of the New York Grown Food for New York Kids coalition and the general public with the resources and support to achieve the goals outlined above. The time to

act is now! Help bring attention to this important opportunity before April 1, 2020 while state budget decisions are being made to improve the health of our children and support our farms.

Don’t forget to contact your state representatives with our Action Alert!

Connect With Us! Learn more at www.finys.org/nyfood4nykids Like American Farmland Trust | New York and Farm to Institution New York State on

Facebook Follow @FarmlandNY and @GrowFINYS on Twitter Follow @newyorkfarmland on Instagram Use and follow the #NYFood4NYKids hashtag Need help? Contact us at: newyork@farmland.org

Talking PointsNew York Grown Food for New York Kids is a coalition of over 70 school, food, farm, public health, economic development, environmental, and anti-hunger organizations and stakeholders throughout New York who support increasing access to fresh, healthy, local food for students in K-12 schools.

Coalition members and the general public are encouraged to use the following talking points to raise awareness about the New York Food for New York Kids campaign this year. They can assist with conversations with state representatives and members of the media, content for blog posts, newsletters, and more!

What the New York Farm to School Purchasing Incentive Does:

Prior to the adoption of the FY19 state budget, the New York State school meal reimbursement rate stagnated at under 6 cents per meal for 40 years. This program changed that!

The main barriers to increasing the amount of fresh, healthy, New York grown food served in schools to our children is a lack of sufficient money to buy these foods, training on how to purchase and prepare these foods, and equipment to process, distribute, store and cook fresh foods to serve to our schoolchildren. The $10 million in funding to incentivize local food purchases by K-12 schools and the Farm to School grants program work together to address these main barriers.

The incentive program provides the financial support for schools to purchase New York grown food by quadrupling the current school meal reimbursement to 25 cents for schools spending 30 percent of their lunch budget on food from New York farms.

Recent AFT research revealed evidence that this program is helping school food buyers to be less cost sensitive when buying New York grown food.

These Farm to School programs are a win-win for our children and our state’s farmers!

Increasing Funding for the Farm to School Grants Program:

Farm to School is a crucial complement to the Farm to School Purchasing Incentive program as it supports the hiring of farm to school coordinators, the purchase of equipment, and the training and staff support that schools need to handle farm fresh foods.

Since the Governor launched New York's Farm-to-School Grant Program in 2015, more than $3.5 million has been invested to support 43 Farm to School projects, benefitting almost 750,000 students in 255 school districts across the State.

In the FY2019 and FY2020 Enacted State budgets, $1.5 million was appropriated to the Farm to School Grants Program, with $750,000 in the Education budget and $750,000 in the Agriculture budget.

In the two years of Farm to School Grant applications for this $1.5 million in funds, applications were submitted requesting a total of over $3 million each year, over two times the amount of funding available.

In Governor Cuomo’s FY2021 Executive Budget Proposal, $1.5 million was again proposed split between the agriculture and education budgets—less than half of the current demand for this popular program.

Because of the strong interest in the Farm to School Grants Program, and the critical role it plays in helping schools achieve the state’s 30% local purchasing threshold, the members of the New York Grown Food for New York Kids Coalition encourage the Governor and the State Legislature to appropriate $3 million to the Farm to School Grants Program, split between agriculture and education in the FY2021 Enacted State Budget—so long as this funding doesn’t detract from important agricultural programs.

NEW REPORT: Growing Opportunity for Farm to SchoolHow to Revolutionize School Food, Support Local Farms, and Improve the Health of Students in New York

After the first year of the New York Farm to School Purchasing Incentive program, American Farmland Trust surveyed over 300 school food authorities at K-12 schools across the state to learn whether this program successfully stimulated more purchasing of New York grown and raised food. AFT’s research found that 72% of schools felt optimistic that with the right support they would achieve 30% within five years. Achieving this outcome would cause schools to spend nearly $150 million at New York farms over the next five years while increasing access to healthy, New York grown food for almost 700,000 K–12 students by 2024. Conservatively, this would generate over $210 million in economic impact statewide while costing the state just over $94 million over the course of five years in reimbursement and support. However, schools still face barriers when attempting to buy more New York grown food and reach 30%, and more must be done to help them in order to unlock the incredible economic and public health potential of this program.

“Growing Opportunity” details the challenges schools still face in buying more Nee York grown food and reaching 30%, and makes eight recommendations the State of New York can act on to ensure this program reaches its full potential. Learn more at www.farmland.org/growingopportunity.

Civil Eats, Inside New York’s Pursuit to Bring Local Food into More Schools

Growing Opportunity Infographics (right-click to save) See Social Media section for sample posts:

Benefits of Farm to School

Public Health: K-12 schools in New York State serve meals to nearly 1.7 million schoolchildren annually Up to two-thirds of a child’s daily nutrition comes from school meals. According to the New York State DOH, nearly 1 in 5 kids and teens under the age of 18 are obese

and 1 in 3 are overweight or obese, record highs. According to a 2012 report from the State Comptroller, NY state’s Medicaid program spends $12

billion/year on obesity and related illness. Over $300 million is spent on obesity in children. Obesity is the root cause of many diseases that contribute to heart disease (#1 killer in US):

diabetes, hypertension and asthma; and even some cancers. Studies Show that Farm to School programs improve childhood health behaviors, including

choosing healthier options at school meals, consuming more fruits and vegetables through farm to school meals and at home (+0.99 to +1.3 servings/day), consuming less unhealthy foods and sodas, reducing screen time and increasing physical activity.

Healthy Food Access: There are nearly 2.7 million New Yorkers, including almost 1 million children, who do not have

consistent access to the food they need to live an active, healthy life. For food insecure children, school often provides three meals: breakfast, lunch and after-school.

These can be the only dependable daily source of food these children have. Increasing the amount of healthy, fresh food in our schools is an effective way to improve the

diet of children in low-income families.

Economic Impact and Job Creation Benefits:

Recent research by American Farmland Trust found that within five years, 72% of schools anticipate reaching 30% spending on New York grown food for lunch, if given the right support. Achieving this outcome would cause schools to spend nearly $150 million at New York farms while increasing access to healthy, New York grown and raised food for nearly 700,000 K-12 students by 2024.

According to a 2019 report from the state Comptroller, over 33,000 farms in New York contribute nearly $6 billion annually to the state’s economy with over $45 billion in total economic impact

Farm to school is an opportunity to stimulate the economy in our rural areas: o Each dollar invested in Farm to School activities stimulates, on average, an additional

$1.60 in local economic activity. o According to Anne Hazlett, former assistant secretary for rural development at the

USDA, for every job that is created in a farm-to-school program, another 1.67 jobs are created in the local community

A 2016 study published by Cornell University revealed that if schools were to buy just one New York grown fruit or vegetable per week, this could increase revenue for farmers by $9.2 million for vegetables, or $5.3 million for fruit in New York State.

Farm to School creates new opportunities for farmers and helps manage risk in their business. It also creates new markets for products such as small apples and pears.

Other Benefits of Farm to School: Students at schools that contract with a healthy school lunch vendor score higher on statewide

achievement tests. Nutrition can affect learning through three channels: physical development, cognition and behavior. (Source: Study out of UC Berkeley published in The New York Times )

How to Address the Farm to School Food Waste Myth: In response to concerns that children don’t like healthier meals, and are more likely to throw

the food away, an analysis of three large studies by the Pew Charitable Trust found that under improved nutrition rules, food waste declined in schools in Connecticut and Texas.

Compared with 2012, children ate nearly 13% points more of their entrees and 18% points more of their vegetables by the last year of the study and food waste declined as a result.

Researchers found that greater variety led to healthier choices. Each additional fruit option offered was associated with a 9.3% increase in the number of students taking a fruit serving.

A University of Florida Study recently showed that Farm to school programs increased children’s consumption of vegetables by 37% and fruit by 11%.

Social Media PostsWhen you post about New York Food for New York Kids or any the talking points mentioned above, please make sure to use the #NYFood4NYKids hashtag so we can see it and share it with our followers! Don’t forget to tag @FarmlandNY and @GrowFINYS on Twitter and American Farmland Trust, New York and Farm to Institution New York State on Facebook. Sample social media posts an graphics are included on the following pages.

Facebook

ACT NOW: You can be part of an important opportunity to help bring more New York grown foods into New York schools! Farm to School is a win-win-win for farmers, healthy kids, and local economies! Contact your representatives today and urge their support of #NYFood4NYKids. Visit www.finys.org/nyfood4nykids

Growing Opportunity report from @AmericanFarmlandTrustNY found that within five years 72% of schools anticipate reaching 30% spending on New York grown food for lunch, if given the right support. Achieving this would cause schools to spend nearly $150 million at New York farms while increasing access to healthy, New York grown and raised food for nearly 700,000 K-12 students by 2024. Take action today to urge your representatives to help schools provide #NYFood4NYKids! www.finys.org/nyfood4nykids

This year, we have 3 important asks for the state budget to help schools serve more #NYFood4NYKids! Act now: www.finys.org/nyfood4nykids1. Maintain $10 million for NY Farm to School Purchasing Incentive and expand to all school meals in future years. 2. Increase Farm to School Grants Program to $3 million to support a statewide network of Farm to School coordinators.

3. Update state law to give schools more flexibility to spend dollars at local farms.

Farm to School is a win-win-win for farmers, healthy kids, and local economies! Call or write your state representatives today to ask them to support more #NYFood4NYKids. www.finys.org/nyfood4nykids

Twitter

This year we have an important opportunity to continue to support more #NYFood4NYKids! Call and write your legislators today: www.finys.org/nyfood4nykids #FarmtoSchool

ACT NOW: Advocates are urging the State Legislature to support #NYFood4NYKids in this year's #NYBudget. Take 2 minutes today to call your reps and ask them to support funding to serve our kids healthy, NY food in schools! www.finys.org/nyfood4nykids

Farm to School is a triple-win for farmers, healthy kids, and local economies! Act now to urge support for #NYFood4NYKids in the #NYBudget. www.finys.org/nyfood4nykids #FarmtoSchool

New report from @FarmlandNY finds that with the right support, NY schools could increase spending on NY grown food to $150M, increasing access to healthy, local food to 700K students by 2024! Learn more: www.farmland.org/growingopportunity #NYFood4NYKids #FarmtoSchool

New report from @FarmlandNY finds that with the right support, 72% of NY schools anticipate reaching 30% spending on food from NY farms, generating $210M in economic impact statewide! Learn more: www.farmland.org/growingopportunity #NYFood4NYKids #FarmtoSchool

(Right-click to save and use graphics)

Key Accounts to TagWhen posting on social media, we encourage you to tag the following accounts. This step is important as it greatly increases the chances these influencers will see your post. On Facebook, include the appropriate @ mention after the text of your post. On Twitter, upload the image provided above—this allows you to tag up to 10 accounts in the photo. Choose ones from the list below or add your own!

American Farmland Trust New YorkTwitter: @FarmlandNYFacebook: @AmericanFarmlandTrustNY

Farm to Institution New York State (FINYS)Twitter: @GrowFINYSFacebook: @FarmtoInstitutionNYS

Governor Andrew CuomoTwitter: @NYGovCuomo Facebook: @GovernorAndrewCuomo

Senator Andrea Stewart Cousins, Majority Leader of the SenateFacebook: @Andrea.StewartCousins

Senator Liz Krueger, Chair of the Senate Finance CommitteeTwitter: @LizKruegerFacebook: @StateSenatorLizKrueger

Senator Jen Metzger, Chair of the Senate Agriculture CommitteeTwitter: @SenatorMetzgerFacebook: @SenatorJenMetzger

Senator Shelly Mayer, Chair of the Senate Education CommitteeFacebook: @ShelleyMayerSD37Twitter: @ShelleyBMayer

Assemblymember and Speaker of the NYS Assembly Carl E. HeastieTwitter: @CarlHeastie

Assemblymember Donna Lupardo, Chair of the Assembly Agriculture CommitteeFacebook: @DonnaLupardoTwitter: @DonnaLupardo

Assemblymember Michael Benedetto, Chair of the Assembly Education CommitteeTwitter: @MikeBenedetto82

Tip: Search for the official social media accounts for members of the Assembly and Senate for your local district and tag them to raise their awareness of this proposal. Need help finding your representatives? Visit www.finys.org/nyfood4nykids to look up your representatives in the State Legislature.

Sample Newsletter BlurbHelp us spread the word on Virtual Lobby Days with a message to your e-new subscribers! See sample language below:

Join Us in Support of New York Grown Food for New York Kids

[Organization Name] is a member of New York Grown Food for New York Kids, a coalition of nearly 70 organizations and stakeholders who support increasing access to fresh, healthy, local food for students in K-12 schools.

This year, we are urging the state to take important action to put more schools on the path of purchasing and serving more fresh, healthy, local food to our children. According to “Growing Opportunity,” a new report from American Farmland Trust, with the right support from the state, schools could increase spending on New York grown food to $150 million, increasing access to healthy, local food to 700,000 students by 2024.

The Farm to School grants program and the Farm to School Purchasing Incentive, funded in the state budget, work hand in hand to bring more New York grown and raised food to students in K-12 schools. This year’s state budget is under negotiation right now, and the governor and the state legislature are considering adjustments to these programs to ensure they help more schools buy food from New York farms to serve to our students.

We invite you to join us in raising your voice to ask your state representatives to continue funding the Farm to School Reimbursement Incentive while expanding it to all school meals in future years, and to increase funding for the Farm to School grants program to build the support schools need now to purchase and serve more New York grown food to New York kids.

Learn more and take action at www.finys.org/nyfood4nykids

More Ways Help Pen a letter to the editor; encourage school officials, farmers, parents and others to do the

same. Schedule a meeting with your newspaper’s Editorial Board. Reach out to local reporters to talk about how these proposals impact your community. Write a blog post or an e-newsletter about the proposals using the talking points in this toolkit. Share stories on social media with #NYFood4NYKids so we can share the news broadly!

THANK YOU FOR BRIGHTENING THE FUTURE FOR NEW YORK KIDS AND

NEW YORK FARMERS!