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 Background and Talking Points Growing Resilience Report Sample Social Media Posts Sample Newsletter Blurb

www.finys.org/nyfood4nykids

IntroductionOver the past three years, Governor Cuomo and the State Legislature have worked together to advance programs in the state budget to put more schools on the path to purchasing and serving healthy, local food to our children. This has included $10 million in funding for the Farm to School Incentive each year, which provides financial support to schools for purchasing New York grown food by quadrupling the current school meal reimbursement to 25 cents for schools that spend 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 establishing farm to school programs, purchasing more New York grown food, and eventually reaching 30%.

The Farm to School Incentive and grants program are uniquely positioned to be a part of a suite of policies that will address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on New York’s children and farmers. Ensuring schools can buy food from New York farms provides them with a source of economic stability at a time when so many have struggled with market uncertainty, supply chain breaks, and revenue losses. COVID-19’s more severe impacts on people with underlying diet-related conditions, like diabetes, reaffirms the importance of improving access to healthy, fresh food as a necessary public health intervention. School meals are a key source of sustenance and nutrition for all kids, who typically consume half of their daily calories at school, no matter their socioeconomic status. Improving the quality of school meals by serving farm fresh food can be an important way to improve the diet and health outcomes of all kids now and in the future. New York’s farm to school programs can also generate millions of dollars in annual spending, which will create jobs, support farm viability, and contribute to more resilient local economies and food systems and help New York build back better.

American Farmland Trust/Farm to Institution New York State has evaluated the incentive program after its first and second years in operation to determine how it has impacted schools’ ability to buy more New York grown food, what the program might accomplish in future years, and to make recommendations to ensure it helps schools, farmers, and kids. The recent “Growing Resilience” report released by American Farmland Trust in December 2020 reveals that 75% of schools feel confident that with the right support, they will increase spending on New York grown food enough to reach 30% by 2025. This would increase access to local food for over 900,000 students and increase the amount schools spend on food from New York farms to $250 million with a total statewide economic impact of nearly $360 million. This research also showed that the program would return $3.50 for every taxpayer dollar spent, costing the state only $103 million through 2025.

In spite of the state’s challenging financial situation, in his SFY22 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 Institution New York State and the statewide 'New York Grown Food for New York Kids' coalition:

Strongly support the Governor’s proposal for $10 million in the Education Budget to continue the Farm to School Purchasing Incentive as a critical way to continue to help schools purchase and serve more New York grown food to kids.

Recognize that the Farm to School grants program provides critical investment into the staff time, equipment, and training necessary to help K-12 Schools reach 30% local purchasing. We

strongly support the Governor’s proposed $1.5 million investment into farm to school grants and wish to see this funding included in the enacted SFY22 budget.

In addition, we wish for the Governor and state legislature to take the following actions this year: Change budget language for the incentive program to allow schools serving lunches through

USDA summer meals programs, which has been necessary due to the pandemic, to participate. (Sponsors: Assemblywoman Lupardo, Senator Hinchey, bill number forthcoming)

Ensure that all schools have access to a regional farm to school coordinator through the farm to school grants funding in the future to help them increase the amount of local food they buy and reach 30%

Increase the state Small Purchase Threshold in GML § 103 so that schools can purchase more fresh food directly from New York farmers using informal bidding methods, and reach 30%.

Work to expand this incentive to other school meals, such as breakfast, in the future.

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 necessary to work together to achieve our collective goals to grow Farm to School while improving public health and the economy in New York.

Please contact your state representatives with our Action Alert! The time to act is now! Help bring attention to this important opportunity while state budget decisions are being made, and communicate your support for these program and changes to the Governor and state legislature before April 1, 2021 to improve the health of our children and support our farms.

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

Background and 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. These talking points and communications materials can assist you in conversations with state representatives and members of the media, and developing content for blog posts, social media, newsletters, and more!

Farm to School and the COVID-19 Pandemic Despite the pandemic and resulting changes to meal operations and operating budgets, our

Growing Resilience research and report found that 86% of schools purchased and served more

New York grown and raised food during the 2019-20 school year, with many reporting purchasing more New York fruit, dairy, and vegetables than in previous years.

Food service directors and their staff have been instrumental in feeding kids and their families both while school doors were closed and as they have reopened for the 2020-21 school year.

As of the summer of 2019, forty-nine percent of schools expected to increase their purchases of New York grown food during the 2020-2021 school year.

Though many remain committed to farm to school—changes to meal service, lack of staff capacity, school meal revenue losses, and budget uncertainty have posed challenges for food service directors looking to purchase and serve New York grown food, and so we must remain committed to the programs that support them!

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. State 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 up to 25 cents for schools that spend 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!

Adding Breakfast and other Meals to this Incentive Program: Incentivizing purchasing of New York grown food at other meals besides lunch would increase

our kids’ access to fresh, healthy local food throughout the school day. This would also remove the opportunity for “creative compliance” whereby schools load all

current New York foods currently purchased for and served at other school meals onto lunch in order to reach 30%, creating the mirage of an increase in farm spending without actually buying more from New York farms.

AFT research suggests that including breakfast in the incentive program could unlock $78 million in annual spending and nearly $112 million in annual total statewide economic impact if schools not already spending 30% or more of breakfast costs on New York food products reached that level of spending. Much of this spending would go towards increasing purchases from New York’s dairy farmers.

Overall farm to school spending in New York could generate half a billion dollars in total economic impact when three quarters of schools spend 30% of their breakfast and lunch budgets on New York grown food.

The Farm to School Grants Program: Helping Schools Achieve 30%, and more! Farm to School Grants are a crucial complement to the Farm to School Purchasing Incentive

program because they support the hiring of farm to school coordinators, the purchase of

equipment, and the training and staff support that schools need to purchase and serve 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, FY2020, and FY2021 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. No RFP has been released yet for FY2021 funding.

In Governor Cuomo’s FY2021 Executive Budget Proposal, he proposed to maintain $1.5 million in funding for this program split between the agriculture and education budgets.

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 maintain $1.5 million in funding for the Farm to School Grants Program, split between agriculture and education in the FY2022 Enacted State Budget.

Creating a Farm to School Coordinator Program: Farm to School coordinators are consummate professionals who help schools connect with

farmers, design menus, procure local foods, and help get kids curious and excited about eating healthy foods. These positions are currently funded on an ad hoc basis through the state and federal farm to school grants programs and lack support for interregional coordination.

These coordinators have been shown to be critical to helping schools achieve 30% by providing guidance and extra capacity to food service directors trying to buy and incorporate more New York products into school meals.

Members of the New York Grown Food For New York Kids Coalition encourage the legislature, Governor and Department of Agriculture and Markets to ensure that all schools have access to a regional farm to school coordinator funded through the state grants program so all schools have access to essential farm to school support.

Alongside continuing the incentive program and statewide grants, this program will be critical to ensuring schools receive the right support to increase procurement and unlock the considerable potential economic and public health impact of farm to school programs in New York.

NEW REPORT: Growing ResilienceUnlocking the Potential of Farm to School to Strengthen the Economy, Support New York Farms, and Improve Student Health in the Face of New Challenges

After the second year of the New York Farm to School Purchasing Incentive program, American Farmland Trust surveyed 300 school food authorities at K-12 schools across the state to further clarify

remaining barriers schools face in purchasing New York food products and reaching 30%, and to identify what impacts COVID-19 may have on the future of farm to school in New York. In spite of current challenges, AFT’s research found that 75% of schools felt optimistic that with the right support they would achieve 30% within five years. Achieving this outcome would cause schools to spend $250 million at New York farms over the next five years while increasing access to healthy, New York grown food for over 900,000 K–12 students by 2025. Conservatively, this would generate nearly $360 million in economic impact statewide while costing the state just over $103 million over the course of five years in reimbursement and support—a $3.50 return on investment for every taxpayer dollar spent.

School purchasing of local foods supports family farms, strengthens local economies, and strengthens local supply chains which are more resilient to disruption than the

globalized supply chains that led to empty shelves in the Spring of 2020. AFT’s research found that in year two of the incentive program, schools significantly increased purchases of locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables and minimally processed products. Both small entrepreneurial New York businesses and large manufacturers like Mott’s are noticing and responding to demand for New York products. And these new products and investments in the local supply chain benefit all institutional buyers – not just schools! 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 overcome these barriers in order to unlock the incredible economic and public health potential of this program.

“Growing Resilience” details the challenges schools still face in buying more New York grown food and reaching 30%, and makes six recommendations the State of New York can act on to ensure this program reaches its full potential. These recommendations are:

1. Add other School Meals to the Incentive Program : Continue funding the New York Farm to School Incentive program and include breakfast by reimbursing schools that spend 30% of their food costs on New York grown and raised food at a higher rate for both breakfast and lunch.

2. Fund the Farm to School Grants Program : Continue funding the New York Farm to School Grants program and ensure support reaches urban schools.

3. Create a Statewide Farm to School Coordinator Program : Invest in a centrally coordinated network of regional Farm to School Coordinators who will help all schools across New York state build farm to school programs, increase purchasing, and reach 30%.

4. Ensure Procurement Regulations Help Schools Buy Local : Raise and simplify state and local small purchase thresholds and continue to train schools on how to use procurement methods to buy local.

5. Improve Tracking : Streamline program administrative requirements, and ensure the required paperwork reliably proves purchases come from New York farms by instituting spot checks.

6. Strengthen the Overall Farm to School Supply Chain : Improve access to local food and support schools in procuring New York produced milk.

Learn more at www.farmland.org/growingresilience.

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

Growing Opportunity: Revolutionizing Farm to School in New York

In January of 2020, American Farmland Trust released its previous farm to school report, Growing Opportunity: How to Revolutionize School Food, Support Local Farms, and Improve the Health of Students in New York. This report detailed additional ways to strengthen the farm to school in New York, including calling on the state to:

Invest in more regional and statewide farm to school coordinators across New York to provide support and increase sharing of best practices across the state;

Incorporate accountability mechanisms for tracing food to New York farms into the documentation collection process to ensure food is truly coming from New York producers;

Increase training and support for food service directors to help them navigate procuring New York grown food and incorporating it into menus;

Increase value-added processing capacity within New York state to increase the amount of minimally processed farm fresh food available to schools.

Read the Growing Opportunity report’s findings and check out this Civil Eats article, Inside New York’s Pursuit to Bring Local Food into More Schools to learn more !

Benefits of Farm to School

Public Health and Food Access: K-12 schools in New York State serve meals to nearly 1.7 million schoolchildren annually. Up to one half of a child’s daily nutrition comes from school meals. Prior to the pandemic, there were nearly 2.7 million New Yorkers, including almost 1 million

children, who did not have consistent access to the food they need to live an active, healthy life. In a US Census Bureau December 2020 Pulse Survey, 13% of all New York households and 17% of households with children reported sometimes or often not having enough to eat.

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. Schools have been the top reported source of free meals for many families during the pandemic.

Increasing the amount of healthy, fresh food in our schools is an effective way to improve the diet and health outcomes of children, no matter their socioeconomic status.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had disproportionately severe impacts on those suffering from obesity and obesity-related chronic diseases like diabetes. Systemic racism has made these health disparities more prevalent in Black, Hispanic, and Native American populations by creating barriers to accessing high-quality, nutritious food. Increasing healthy local food served in schools is an equitable way to improve health outcomes for these populations.

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.

Economic Impact and Job Creation: Recent research by American Farmland Trust found that within five years, 75% 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 $250 million at New York farms while increasing access to healthy, New York grown and raised food for over 900,000 K-12 students by 2025.

Conservatively, this would generate nearly $360 million in economic impact statewide while costing the state just over $103 million over the course of five years in reimbursement and support—a $3.50 return on investment for every taxpayer dollar spent through the incentive and grants programs.

Farm to school is an opportunity to stimulate the economy in our rural areas: o Each dollar invested in Farm to School activities stimulates up to an additional $2.16 in

local economic activity. o For every job that is created in a farm-to-school program, up to an additional 2.35 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 and processed products Since the creation of the 30% NYS Incentive, new products like New York grape juice, granola, cheese sticks, and french fries have been developed to meet school demand for local items.

Academic Achievement: 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, if it comes up: 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 Resilience report from @AmericanFarmlandTrustNY found that within five years 75% 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 $250 million at New York farms while increasing access to healthy, New York grown and raised food for over 900,000 K-12 students by 2025. 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. Maintain $1.5 million for the Farm to School Grants Program and ensure all schools have access to a regional Farm to School coordinator. 3. Update state procurement 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 $250M, increasing access to healthy, local food to 900K students by 2025! Learn more: www.farmland.org/growingresilience #NYFood4NYKids #FarmtoSchool

New report from @FarmlandNY finds that with the right support, 75% of NY schools anticipate reaching 30% spending on food from NY farms, generating $360M in economic impact statewide! Learn more: www.farmland.org/growingresilience #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 Michelle Hinchey, Chair of the Senate Agriculture CommitteeTwitter: @SenatorHincheyFacebook: @SentorMichelleHinchey

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

Senator Rachel May

Twitter: @RachelMayNYFacebook: @RachelMayNYAssemblymember 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 purchase and serve fresh, healthy, local food to our children. According to “Growing Resilience,” a new report from American Farmland Trust, with the right support from the state, schools could increase spending on NY grown food to $250 million, increasing access to healthy, local food to over 900,000 students by 2025.

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 include breakfast in the future, to maintain funding for the Farm to School grants program while developing a plan to create a network of farm to school coordinators to build the support schools need now, and to change state procurement laws to help schools 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 in your local paper; encourage school officials, farmers, parents and

others to do the same. Schedule a meeting with your newspaper’s Editorial Board and bring the opportunity to their

attention. 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 farm to school stories and photos 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!