6. Health: Kids Win The choice of healthier options in the cafeteria through farm to school meals results in consumption of more fruits and vegetables with an average increase of one serving per day, including at home.
7. Agriculture: Farmers Win Farm to School programs can open up the expansive school food market, estimated at more than $12 billion a year, to socially disadvantaged farmers.
8. Economy: Communities Win For every dollar spent on local foods in schools, one to three dollars circulate in the local economy.
9. Student: Why don’t we get fresh lettuce and local watermelon at school lunch ? Parent Food Service Director Principal National Food Distributor School Board Food Processor Teacher Nutritionist Contracted Food Service Provider
10. Inputs Food Consumption Food Distribution Food Processing Ingredient Production Natural Resources Waste and Recycling Food Transformation Schools Contracts with food manufacturers commissary kitchens prepared foods Contracts with national distributors and fast food chains Minimal preparation mostly heated and served surplus commodities from USDA constant and consistent supply
11. Food Consumption Food Distribution Food Processing Local / Regional Farmers / Ranchers Natural Resources Waste and Recycling Food Transformation School Local slaughterhouses Local food preservation Local commissary kitchen Regional aggregation sites and direct sales Seasonally-based cooking with all local menus direct partnerships with farmers for purchasing onsite growing contracted growing and farm visits by teachrs, students, and school food service staff school gardens classroom cooking , nutrition education, taste tetsts farm-based field studies Local foods in cafeterias Lesser food waste, reusables, compostable food trays, increased awareness Less pesticide / chemical use on land, water, air, less energy used Care for natural resources Healthier, local , less processed foods, Consumer knows where food is coming from
We hope that you leave with an understanding of how farm to school programs work and that the national farm to school network, contribute to food security inside of a community and that you are comfortable reaching out to community members to initiate a farm to school program in your home state.
Even though this was initiated under a farm to school guise- the policy was far reaching and applied to many of washingtons public food services and state contracts- an example of an initiative – by using farm to school- worked on increasing access to local foods for low income participants $600,000 for Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program all together
Even though this was initiated under a farm to school guise- the policy was far reaching and applied to many of washingtons public food services and state contracts- an example of an initiative – by using farm to school- worked on increasing access to local foods for low income participants $600,000 for Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program all together
Even though this was initiated under a farm to school guise- the policy was far reaching and applied to many of washingtons public food services and state contracts- an example of an initiative – by using farm to school- worked on increasing access to local foods for low income participants $600,000 for Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program all together
Even though this was initiated under a farm to school guise- the policy was far reaching and applied to many of washingtons public food services and state contracts- an example of an initiative – by using farm to school- worked on increasing access to local foods for low income participants $600,000 for Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program all together
What can farm to school do in our vision of the Food System Important to keep in mind that we are working under the current food system – tweaking it. Inputs and Natural Resources (less pesticides, fertilizers, oil to produce food) – Processing (opportunities for local processing , direct relationships ) – Distribution (local and regional systems, shorter distances, less oil use – Locavore movement ) – Transformation (need kitchen staff training, equipment, systems in place) – Consumption (healthier, better for the food system) SCHOOLS CAN PLAY A ROLE IN TRANSFORMING THE FOOD SYSTEM
And all these contribute to and add to food security – micro-cosim of local food systems Current Food System- Complex and Centralized We have lost nearly 67% of our farms since 1920. There are now more prisoners in the US than full-time farmers. Family farmers in 2002 earned their lowest real net cash income since 1940. Buying locally helps preserve local food sources, increasing food security
Activities to involve parents and community members – parents invited to a meal cooked by students
Started in 2000, one school- brought together three non-profits that work with different populations
Washington Environmental Coalition – environmental lobby- broading of coalitions across nutrition and ag folks –farm to school
In Philadelphia currently, the KI runs in 27 schools – 3,510 dollars a week going back to independent locally owned businesses – Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative is a cooperative of organic fruit and vegetable farmers- started with 5 farmers and sold only to high end restaurants, they needed to find a market for farmers that had a couple of items that weren’t so high end- and in quantity- they now are our sole source of produce they have 47 farmers- and are part of a pilot in 5 high schools the first time ever Philadelphia school district has written a contract for fresh fruits and vegetables Joe was a independent coffee bar in a city full of star bucks – sourced sustainable beans and was struggling to make ends meet- he worked with us to develop healthy baked products- such as butternut squash muffins and fruit leathers- out of local product- he loved developing the recipes and started sourcing local product for his store as well developing soups etc. but developed the baked goods into a product he now sells across the city at farmers markets and directly to schools and aftercare programs- schools now hire him for recipe development and directly purchase his product Pequea Valley Yogurt is an grass based Amish dairy that was selling their yogurt in specialty shops, we contacted them and tried their yogurt- we loved it but they only had a high fat version and were using a higher sugar fruit base- for the KI they developed a low fat yogurt in a smaller container- 20,000 yogurts were sold last year and many schools are interested if they can increase capacity Iovine brothers had a large produce stand- they process all of our fruits and vegetables and provide us with tropical produce in the winter- we also serve pineapple, mangoes, and citrus fruits to demonstrate what does not grow local - they have started sourcing locally for their stand and purchased a truck for distribution- with the new fresh fruit and vegetable dollars schools are now contracting with Bovines- an independent and locally owned family business for the FFV program- and Bovines knows exactly how to source locally when possible
Seattle was next district- advocates started to ask state departments for help- in 2004 Dept of Ag put out a guide supporting schools to purchase local- and set recommenations around state procurement - now a state wide program
Even though this was initiated under a farm to school guise- the policy was far reaching and applied to many of washingtons public food services and state contracts- an example of an initiative – by using farm to school- worked on increasing access to local foods for low income participants $600,000 for Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program all together