Congressman Holt Introduces Farm to School Improvements Act Legislation

This week Congressman Rush Holt (D-NJ) will be introducing the “Farm to School Improvements Act of 2010.” The proposed legislation will provide $50 million in mandatory funding over the next five years to fund Farm to School Programs as part of the Child Nutrition Act Reauthorization.

The Farm to School Collaborative, a cross-sector alliance of school, nutrition, rural, and sustainable agriculture groups and farmers, has been leading the campaign for mandatory funding for Farm to School programs in the upcoming Child Nutrition Act Reauthorization (CNR). Members of the Farm to School Collaborative include the Community Food Security Coalition, National Farm to School Network, School Food FOCUS, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition and the Wallace Center at Winrock International.

Background

In 2004, as part of the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act (Public Law No: 108-265) Congress authorized a grant program (Section 122) for schools to receive funds up to $100,000 to cover start‐up costs for what were then called farm-to-cafeteria projects. These competitive, one‐time grants were designed to improve student access to nutritious, locally grown fresh food and to assist schools in their efforts to develop hands‐on nutrition education programs. Six years later, funds have yet to be appropriated for the grant program.

In the intervening years roughly 11% of schools have started varying levels of local purchasing, but many of these programs are fledgling efforts in need of resources and information in order to be effective. Most schools will require assistance from a community organization or government entity, like a state department of agriculture, to initiate farm to school programs. As originally intended in 2004, grants issued through the Farm to School Improvement Act will allow schools or non-government organizations to:

- develop vendor relationships with local farmers,
- plan seasonal menus and promotional materials,
- start a school garden,
- develop hands-on nutrition education to demonstrate the important interrelationship of nutrition and agriculture, and
- provide solutions to infrastructure problems like storage, transportation, food preparation, and technical training.

Call to Action

Gaining additional co-sponsors for this bill is critical to ensuring that it is included in the Child Nutrition Act Reauthorization. To share your support for this legislation, you may call or fax your U.S. Representative’s office and ask them to co-sponsor the bill. U.S. Representative’s names and direct numbers may be accessed by going to Congress.org and typing in a zip code. You can also call the Capitol Switchboard at 202.225.3121, provide your U.S. Representative’s name and be directly connected to their office. Once connected to their office ask to speak to the aide that works on child nutrition.

No related posts.

Comments RSS You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.