Oregon Media Coverage

Oregon Delivers Local Seafood From Boat To School by Cassandra Profita. Oregon Public Broadcasting. Published 04/05/2013.
This article discusses the new seafood items on the school lunch menu for the 16,000 students in the Bend-LaPine School District. The School District received funds from the 2011 Farm to School & School Garden Bill allowed Bend-area schools to add seafood to the mix of local food offerings for a few months this year. The $27,000 in grant funds the new "Boat to School" program will run out in May, but students will get the opportunity to meet some of the Oregon fishermen who have provided some of their school lunch meals and hear about how the fishermen fish the seas off of the Oregon Coast. A new bill in the Legislature this session proposes to expand grant funding for farm to school and school garden programs like Bend-LaPines's Boat to School, from $189,140 in 2011 to $5 million for 2013-2015. Read the entire article.

Local Food on Menu by Susan Palmer. The Register Guard. Published 02/19/2013.
This articles discusses the local purchasing efforts of three Lane County school districts. These districts purchased over $314,000 worth of foods grown or processed in Lane County in 2012. Read the entire article.

Eugene School Celebrates Grant Award by Nha Nguyen. KEZI News. Published 02/15/2013.
This news story explains how Eugene school districts will use grant monies from the Oregon Department of Agriculture to expand their local purchasing efforts. Farm to School Program Director Megan Kemple explains that the grants awarded by the ODA help to bridge the gap between the extra costs of locally grown food, and the price that schools are able to pay. Read the entire article.

Farm to School Program by Matt Templeton. KMTR News. Published 02/15/2013.
This news story explains how Eugene school districts will use grant monies from the Oregon Department of Agriculture to expand their local purchasing efforts. Highlighted in this story are two Eugene school districts that are purchasing local beef while teaching students to make educated decisions on choosing local, nutritious food. Read the entire article.

Farm to School Program Expanding to Reach More Lane County Schools by Rachael McDonald. KLCC. Published 02/13/2013.
Farm to School Program Director Megan Kemple discusses the Farm to School Program in Eugene, Springfield, and Oakridge. Highlighted in the piece is how a $92,000 grant from the USDA will serve to expand the program's educational components, in addition to a large grant from the Oregon Department of Agriculture that will help to support local purchasing efforts in schools throughout the state. Read the entire article.

New Farm to School and School Garden Grants Transform Oregon School Lunch by Ecotrust and Upstream Public Health . The Lund Report. Published 02/04/2013.
The Oregon Department of Education has announced that eleven school districts are the recipients of competitive Farm to School and School Garden grants totaling $189,140. The majority of the funds (87.5%) will be spent on purchasing Oregon food products, with a smaller portion (12.5%) dedicated to food-, agriculture-, and garden-based education activities. This article details which districts in the state will be receiving these grant dollars, and how they are planning on spending that money. Read the entire article.

More Oregon school districts land farm-to-school grants by Christina Williams. Sustainable Business Oregon. Published 01/25/2013.
This article details how eleven school districts will share $189,140 in state funding to purchase Oregon-grown food and implement garden-based education programs in their schools through a specialty grant awarded by the Oregon Department of Education. The eleven school districts mentioned are: Bend-La Pine, Bethel in Eugene, Centennial in southeast Portland and Gresham, School District No. 4J in Eugene, Gladstone, Joseph School District in northeast Oregon, Lebanon, North Powder Charter School, Ontario, Douglas County, and Sherman County School District. Read the entire article.

http://eugeneweekly.com/article/letters-editor-10-11-2012 by Megan Kemple. Eugene Weekly. Published 10/10/2012.
This is a letter to the editor written by Farm to School Program Director and Oregon State Lead for the National Farm to School Network, Megan Kemple. In response to a series titled "Shortchanging our Schools", Megan details the work of Willamette Farm and Food Coalition's Farm to School Program. Read the entire article.

Biz Beat by Eugene Weekly Staff. Eugene Weekly. Published 10/10/2012.
This Biz Beat mentions that October is National Farm to School Month, and in celebration of the month, Willamette Farm and Food Coalition is offering tasting tables at area schools. The Biz Beat goes on to promote the sale of Farm to School Fuji apples at local health food stores. The 3lb bags of apples are a fundraiser for Farm to School. Read the entire article.

Tasting Table of Locally Grown Food by KEZI Staff. KEZI. Published 10/09/2012.
A short piece mentioning state representative Nancy Nathanson's support for a $5 million dollar expansion of Farm to School activities in the state. Read the entire article.

A healthy Tasting Table for Students by KEZI Staff. KEZI. Published 10/09/2012.
This is a short article highlighting a request to expand the dollars available for reimbursing schools for making local food purchases. Read the entire article.

FARM TO SCHOOL Bounty by the basket by Sam Wheeler . Ashland Daily Tidings. Published 10/09/2012.
This article details the success of Ashland Middle School's student garden. With descriptions of tomatoes everywhere, the author notes that this year the garden is expecting to surpass 100 lbs of produce sent to their cafeteria, a milestone for the quarter acre lot. Interviews with students show that the garden is providing a real education in food and nutrition, and the food service director of the Ashland School District notes that school gardens brought in more than 60 pounds of carrots, onions, and green beans in the spring of 2012. Read the entire article.

School lunches: Thoughts and tips from a school chef, a farm to school program director, a dietitian by Amy Wang. The Oregonian. Published 10/07/2012.
School lunches: Thoughts and tips from a school chef, a farm to school program director, a dietitian, a vegan blogger and a sixth-grader Read the entire article.

Farm to School Month by KATU. KATU. Published 10/05/2012.
This KATU news segment celebrates Farm to School month by taking a visit to Pearmine Farms. Pearmine Farms participates in the national Farm to School movement by hosting field trips for area students and doing presentations at area schools about farming. The video segment features Pearmine Farmer Molly McCargar's thoughts on farming her family's land, and the importance for children to know where their food comes from. Also featured in the video segment is Oregon Department of Agriculture's Farm to School Manager, Michelle Markesteyn Ratcliffe, talking about the importance of Farm to School in the lives of the children involved and the local economies of Oregon. Read the entire article.

Farm to School Educates Local Students by Sean Cuellar. KEZI. Published 09/24/2012.
This article and video clip follows a farm to school field trip conducted by Willamette Farm and Food Coalition's Farm to School Program. Fifth graders from River Road Elementary are seen harvesting strawberries from the Small Farmer's Project, and shopping for their harvest meal at Thistledown Farm. The article and video clip mention that the Farm to School Program has reached over 1,700 students in the Eugene/Springfield area. There is also mention of the new family program that promotes the use of EBT at area markets and farm stands. Read the entire article.

Farm-to-School Program Seeks Proposals for Pilot Project by Christen McCurdy . The Lund Report. Published 09/19/2012.
This article announces the start of the administration of the $200,000 of funds from the passing of HB 2800 in 2011. The article explains that the $200,000 is only a tiny fraction of the $23 million, and that the the funds for the pilot program have been difficult to administer due to issues in the Oregon Department of Education. The article goes on to describe that hiring child nutrition specialist, Rick Sherman, to coordinate the farm to school/school garden program for the Oregon Department of Education has enabled the implementation of HB 2800's pilot program to move forward. Read the entire article.

Healthier School Lunches by KATU. KATU. Published 09/07/2012.
This KATU video segment discusses the changes being made to cafeterias all over the state. Highlighting new fresh fruit and vegetable salad bars, reporters talk with Michelle Markesteyn Ratcliffe about the harvest of the month posters and an emphasis on kids choosing what they eat. Read the entire article.

Abernethy Elementary School by Steve Beaven. The Oregonian. Published 08/14/2012.
This article discusses the debate over school lunches while looking at Abernethy Elementary's (Portland) school lunch program. The school has a comprehensive food curriculum that includes the use of fresh produce grown by students on school grounds in school lunches. The program is under attack by federal regulators that say school districts must abide by federal guidelines for lunches which do not include the costs of a chef preparing school meals from scratch as Abernethy Elementary does. Read the entire article.

Innovators in School Nutrition by Juliann Schaeffe. Today’s Dietitian Vol. 14 No. 7 P. 28. Published 07/01/2012.
This article profiles four groundbreaking school districts' innovative school-nutrition programs, including Florida's Miami-Dade County Public Schools, where nutrition professionals work to serve healthy meals to students from various ethnic groups. Also profiled is Minnesota's St. Paul Public Schools, which serves locally grown food, and Vermont's Burlington School District, where there is a strong farm-to-school program and school nutrition professionals serve food from different regions of the world. Oregon's Bethel School District which also partners with local farms. Read the entire article.

Green and Growing by Mike Lee. Oregon Association of Nurseries Magazine. Published 02/01/2012.
"The elective hort program at Newberg High School went from 34 students four years ago to 220 this past year. The horticulture program revenues have grown over the last four years, reaching over $30,000 a year. All of those funds went directly back into infrastructure, operating supplies, labor and educational materials for the program. The relationship between the school and city of Newberg is a cooperative effort to beautify the city, with the Horticulture program donating thousands of plants for cityscapes. Hundreds of young people graduate from Newberg High School each year with a better understanding and appreciation of the plant world around them". Read the entire article.

Program Teaches Students About Cafeteria Composting by Tiffany Eckert. KLCC. Published 01/29/2012.
Anne Donahue is a master composter with the city of Eugene. She's working with Eugene elementary schools to reduce their food scrap waste. At a recent compost workshop, organizers showed how students should the sort their food scraps. Read the entire article.

What Not To Waste by Adeline Bash. The Register Guard . Published 01/28/2012.
"Through new city-funded school compost and gardening programs, local elementary and middle school students are learning how disposing of lunchtime trash can make a big environmental impact on their school and their communities. 10 Eugene elementary and middle schools received a $5,000 grant from the city’s Waste Prevention and Green Building program. Students, teachers and parents from five Eugene and Lane County schools gathered for a cafeteria composting workshop at Adams Elementary School to learn how to utilize an additional $10,000 grant from the city to start both compost and garden projects at their schools. The workshop covered everything from what sorts of trash can be composted to how to properly maintain bins of compost throughout the year so they can eventually be used to fertilize gardens." Read the entire article.

City to help local schools turn food waste into garden resource by Jaculynn Peterson . My Eugene. Published 01/27/2012.
"The city of Eugene has partnered with the School Garden Project of Lane County to build and implement five new school gardens and cafeteria composting programs in the 2011-2012 school year. The city grant will provide funding for a full-time Americorps staff person to create the school gardens and implement the compost programs." Read the entire article.

Funds from Fujis by Sarah Lemon. Mail Tribune. Published 01/18/2012.
Sales of organic Fuji apples in 3-pound bags bearing the Farm to School logo benefit a nonprofit educational effort that began about a year ago in the Rogue Valley. Farm to School's apple program is a partnership between produce distributor Organically Grown Co. in Eugene and about a dozen grocers, four of them in the Rogue Valley. Grocers donate 70 percent of the apples' sales, and raised about $5,000 in a short, test run between April and June last year. This year, customers have nine months instead of three to purchase the apples at four stores locally. Read the entire article.

Bill would allow schools to buy local produce by Caitlin Conrad. KTVL News. Published 12/29/2011.
ROGUE VALLEY, Ore --U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden is looking to create a connection between local schools and local farms. The Oregon senator recently introduced the Fresh Act. The bill would loosen restrictions on how school lunch programs purchase food. Under the Fresh Act, schools could choose to spend 50 percent of food vouchers at the USDA warehouse or buying produce from local farmers. Rogue Valley Farm to School Executive Director Tracy Harding says this would be a positive move for both kids and agriculture in the area. She hopes if the act goes into law schools will choose to buy local. Read the entire article.

Portland area elementary students celebrate National Farm to School Month by Kelly House. The Oregonian. Published 10/27/2011.
Sauvie Island Organics interacts with school children teach kids about where food comes from and encourage them to try new foods. This article also discusses the funding needed to fill the gap between what schools can afford and the price of the organic food as well as some statewide programs that are working to address this need. Read the entire article.

Senator Wyden Teaches Kids About Local Food by Sonia Talati. . Published 10/26/2011.
Ron Wyden visits Clear Lake Elementary school in Eugene, OR to highlight their farm to school program, which teaches kids about where the food comes from and incorporates food from local farms into school meals. Read the entire article.

Senator Wyden Teaches Kids About Local Food by Sonia Talati. KEZI News. Published 10/26/2011.
Senator Ron Wyden visits Clear Lake elementary school in Eugene, OR. to highlight the work of Farm to School, which teaches school children about where their food comes from and works to incorporate locally grown or processed food into school lunches. Read the entire article.

Environmental education center will host open house, harvest festival at Wilsonville farm by Special to the Oregonian. The Oregonian. Published 10/20/2011.
West Linn - Wilsonville School District is being visited by a Farm to School liason to deliver apples to second grade classrooms to introduce fresh food to encourage the community exposure to farms. Read the entire article.

Food for Life by Rachel Foster: School Gardens Grow Healthier Kids. Eugene Weekly. Published 10/13/2011.
School Garden Project (SGP) gets kids out into school gardens to understand what grows and what can be harvested in Oregon. Healthier diets are being emphasized nationally because of the current obesity rates, so these school gardens use hands on experience to teach kids about their food. Read the entire article.

Plan Now to Celebrate Local Healthy Food in October and Beyond by Susan Navrosky. The Superintendent. Published 09/01/2011.
This article highlighted National Farm to School Month and Food Day and Oregon Harvest for Schools.(see page 13 of this pdf). Read the entire article.

'FoodCorps' workers seek to reconnect Oregon students with the state's agricultural roots by Eric Mortenson. The Oregonian. Published 08/30/2011.
Oregon's first four "FoodCorps" representatives began work this week, becoming part of a campaign to encourage school kids to eat right, reduce obesity, reconnect with the state's agricultural roots and support farmers. Oregon Harvest for Schools, a project created by the state Department of Education, features locally-grown food in school cafeterias. Read the entire article.

BARNYARD ART by Hannah Guzik. Mail Tribune. Published 08/05/2011.
As roosters ran in the dust at their feet and an old dog slept among the pumpkins, eight kids sat at a picnic table Wednesday, blank paper before them and oil pastels in hand. Read the entire article.

School garden takes root in time for fall by Sam Wheeler. KVAL. Published 07/19/2011.
"An organic garden has taken root at Ashland High School to boost local and sustainable lunchtime cafeteria options for students next academic year. The idea for the project sprang up at the beginning of this year through an AHS student club called Superheroes of Sustainability, which was started by 2011 graduate Sophie Javna, 17, of Ashland. Through the club, Javna invited members of the community, who are on the forefront of sustainable practices, for lunch-hour presentations and discussions with students." Read the entire article.

CREST students grow a garden and a curriculum in Wilsonville by Special to the Oregonian. OregonLive.com. Published 07/01/2011.
Read the entire article.

Farm to School bill on the way to Governor. . Published 06/24/2011.
The Senate unanimously approved a “Farm Oregon school" bill this morning, allowing more Oregon schools to participate in programs that provide local healthy food options while supporting local farms. House Bill 2800 will create a grant program to support the purchase of local foods for Oregon schools and educational activities related to Oregon agricultural products. Read the entire article.

Farm food in the cafeteria by Erin Maxson. KDRV. Published 06/23/2011.
The Oregon Senate is currently looking at House Bill 2800 which would provide additional funding for schools to purchase food grown in the region. Read the entire article.

Farm to School-Stacy Sobell and Tracy Harding. Immense Possibilities; PBS. Published 06/16/2011.
Great interview with Stacey Sobell and Tracy Harding discussing the Farm to School program. Along with good video footage of National Farm to School programs. Read the entire article.

Eugene School Wins Garden Contest by Jessica Debbas. KEZI-9. Published 06/10/2011.
A small Eugene school won a nation-wide contest that will help the students to make healthy choices. The Village School, a charter school of just over 200 kids in south Eugene, won the Annie's, Inc. Root 4 Kids contest. Read the entire article.

Real Food Movement "Grows" in Eugene, Ore. as Another Local School Wins Farm to School Program in Na. Didgital Journal. Published 06/06/2011.
Annie's, Inc. today announced The Village School in Eugene, Ore. as the winner in its second Root 4 Kids contest encouraging kids to dig and plant new veggies. The Village School generated more sign-ups than over 750 other schools throughout the nation competing to win their choice of a Farm to School program or school garden. Read the entire article.

CROP OF TROUBLE, A cold, wet spring slows growth and forces farmers to adjust by Sherri Buri McDonald . The Register-Guard. Published 06/06/2011.
WFFC’s Farm to School Program was highlighted briefly at the beginning of this news story with a great picture on the photos tab within this link. Read the entire article.

Farm-to-school legislation would create jobs for a healthy Oregon . OregonLive.com. Published 06/01/2011.
Discusses the significance of HB2800 in Oregon; both economically and in the health of our children. HB2800 would create at least 269 new Oregon jobs in the first two years, help address food insecurity, help encourage healthy eating behavior among children, and help children learn better through food, nutrition, and agricultural opportunities. Read the entire article.

Farm-to-School: A Closer Look at HB 2800 by Kyle Curtis . BlueOregon. Published 05/28/2011.
The Farm to School Bill, HB 2800, is currently sitting in the Ways and Means Committee but if passed it would benefit both student health and Oregon’s rural economy. Read the entire article.

Farm to School: A Closer Look at HB 2800 by Kyle Curtis. Blue Oregon. Published 05/28/2011.
There is a wide support for local food in schools around Oregon. House Bill 2800 would provide funding to support economic development including rural Oregon. Read the entire article.

Study: Local Food Can Improve Oregon’s Health, Create Jobs. Science Business . Published 05/12/2011.
A new study suggests that proposed legislation in Oregon that offers incentives to deliver fresh local food to schools would help improve the health of the state’s residents and create hundreds of new farm-industry jobs. The study was funded by a grant from the Health Impact Project, a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trusts. Read the entire article.

Farm to School Health Impact Assessment . Upstream Public Health. Published 05/11/2011.
Between Fall 2010 and Spring 2011, Upstream collaborated with Farm to School and school garden stakeholders to conduct a Health Impact Assessment (HIA) on HB 2800, evaluating its potential effects on Oregonians’ health. Read the Executive Summary and final Health Impact Statement here. Read the entire article.

Oregon Farm to School Act Could Bring More Local Food to Eugene Schools . Eugene Daily News. Published 04/19/2011.
As farms continue to pump out locally produced and processed goods and school children continue to wolf down cafeteria lunches, it’s a curious conundrum that more food doesn’t pass directly from local producers into the school systems. In Lane County, the Willamette Farm and Food Coalition and other local organizations have been addressing this issue for the past several years. With a mission to strengthen the local economy, benefit public health and support local food producers, WFFC has been promoting farm to school connections, becoming a leader in the region and the National Farm to School Network‘s State Lead Agency for Oregon. Now, with a current bill pending review by Oregon’s House of Representatives, the potential exists to strengthen that connection even more. Read the entire article.

Oregon Farm to School Act Could Bring More Local Food to Eugene Schools by Sarah Nicholson. Eugene Daily News. Published 04/18/2011.
Willamette Farm and Food Coalition is a leader in bringing local producers into the school system. HB2800 could have a significant impact on progressing this further. With the farm to school program actively involved in Eugene, Springfield and Bethel school districts, these schools are well prepared to utilize more local food purchasing. This article discusses the projects that farm to school is involved in, as well as what some local farmers, school officials and farm to school representatives think about HB2800. Read the entire article.

HB 2800 and Farm to School. NPR-Jefferson Public Radio. Published 04/11/2011.
Great discussion about the importance of HB2800; Tracy Harding executive director at Rogue Valley Farm to School explains the role of the Farm to School program in general, OSU Economist Bruce Sorte discusses the structure of the agriculture sector and the economic benefits of HB2800, Marah Hall campaign manager for House Bill 2800 talks about the goals of Upstream Public Health and HB2800. Farm to School discussion begins at 7:15 minutes and ends around 20:00 minutes. Read the entire article.

Bill would aid schools, local farms, sponsors say by Mark Johnson . The Register-Guard. Published 04/10/2011.
The Oregon Farm to School Act, HB2800 was approved by the House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources and now moves to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means for budgetary approval. Short discussion of the potential benefits of HB2800, with quotes from Lane County Farm to School advocates. Read the entire article.

Oregon bill would boost farm-to-school cafeteria programs by Paris Achen. Mail Tribune. Published 04/08/2011.
House Bill 2800 would provide $2 million in funding which would reimburse part of the cost of school meals when they use local food products. Discusses need for state funding for Farm to School programs specifically in the Southern Oregon Medford School District. Read the entire article.

Farmers from around the state gather at Oregon by Bethany Monroe . Molalla Pioneer. Published 03/22/2011.
Farmers, ranchers, consumers, and business owners gathered in Salem, Oregon for Family Farms and Ranch Day. There are several bills in the current legislative session which could impact farmers and ranchers. This rally provided a place for contact between state representatives and farmers and ranchers from around the state of Oregon. Read the entire article.

Booming Farm to School Movement is a Great Opportunity for Growth of Local and Organic by Deborah Kane. . Published 03/22/2011.
Farm to school programs are becoming more common across the country. Not only are farm to school programs helping improve the quality of school lunches, educating children about food, agriculture and nutrition but they are also having a significant impact on the local economy. Several examples are described here that show the economic benefits of schools purchasing local food. Read the entire article.

EDITORIAL: Eating local in the schools. The Register-Gaurd. Published 03/18/2011.
Somewhere in the state Capitol, there should be a display listing the best ideas the state can’t afford because of the current budget crisis. High on that list should be a $22.6 million proposal by state Rep. Brian Clem, D-Salem, that would provide state reimbursements to public schools to help them buy locally grown food products for use in their federally subsidized lunch programs. Read the entire article.

Farm-to-school benefits all farmers, backers say by Mitch Lies. Capital Press online. Published 03/17/2011.
A brief discussion of how increased funding for Farm to School programs, from HB2800, could benefit large and small scale farmers. Read the entire article.

Farm-to-school is smart and pays off . The Daily Astorian online. Published 03/17/2011.
Oregon State Representative Brain Clem has been a key player in pushing for state reimbursements to public schools that purchase locally. The importance Clem places on local agriculture is perhaps related to his upbringing in a farming family near Hood River. Either way, his support along with support from community members, farmers, parents, and schools are all needed to further the success of Farm to School programs. Read the entire article.

Lawmakers look at funding locally grown food in schools by SARAH ROSS. Oregon Capitol News. Published 03/10/2011.
Lawmakers heard a $22.6 million proposal this week to bring local food to Oregon schools. The law would provide for schools to be reimbursed 15 cents for every lunch and seven cents for every breakfast when the school buys food that was processed, packaged, or produced in Oregon. Read the entire article.

Bill links Oregon farms with school lunches by Peter Wong. Statesman Journal Online. Published 03/10/2011.
Lack of funding has been the primary obstacle hindering school districts local food purchases for the national school lunch program. House Bill 2800 will allow schools to contract with local farmers; this will benefit the state and local economy and improve the quality of food that our children consume. Read the entire article.

Schools Seek State Funding For Fresh Food by Mackenzie Wilson. KTVZ. Published 03/09/2011.
Even during a time when eating organic, local food is the 'it' thing to do, being a farmer in Central Oregon is still no picnic. Supporters of the Farm to School program want to change all that with a two-part bill. School districts like Bend La Pine who buy food from local farmers would get 15 cents for each school lunch. Read the entire article.

Schools Seek State Funding For Fresh Food(VIDEO) by Mackenzie Wilson. KTVZ News. Published 03/09/2011.
This news clip discusses the economic benefits that result from schools purchasing food locally and the role that the state can play in increasing the local purchasing power of schools in Oregon. Read the entire article.

Are public school lunches making the grade? by Michelle Andujar. WillametteLive.com. Published 03/08/2011.
This article discusses challenges to making school lunches healthier and offers the National Farm to School Network programs as one solution. Sodexo has been contracted with the Salem/Keizer school district lunch program for 31 years and despite some positive changes in lunch composition, parents are speaking up about more that can be done. The author describes school lunch compositions supplied by Sodexo in comparison to alternative providers in Salem, Oregon. Read the entire article.

State, feds find common ground on local-food movement by Peter Wong. Statesman Journal online. Published 03/05/2011.
Discusses scaled down version of House bill 2800, which allows the state to reimburse school districts for locally grown food products used in the federal school lunch and breakfast programs. Brief discussion about getting people of all ages involved in farming as an occupation. Read the entire article.

Oregon farmers and groups win Progress Awards from the state agriculture department by Eric Mortenson . Oregon Live. Published 02/18/2011.
An Outstanding Cooperator awars was presented to Ecotrust and its Food and Farms Program, which links local food producers and consumers. Ecotrust also is involved in the "farm to school" effort, which puts local products in school cafeterias. Read the entire article.

What will you eat? The battle for your dinner plate at the Oregon Legislature by Kyle Curtis. Blue Oregon . Published 02/14/2011.
Currently in Salem, there is a pitched policy battle being waged, the outcome of which will determine the make-up of the food that appears on Oregonians’ dinner plate. A version of the Farm to School Act has been in the Oregon legislature since 2007, with various provisions being passed. Read the entire article.

Local Food for Local Schools by Jennifer Colton . Hermiston Herald. Published 02/09/2011.
State and school officials are going back to basics to improve economy and health through an initiative to bring more Oregon-grown products into the cafeteria. Read the entire article.

Helman students use sustainable transportation to get to their farm project by Hannah Guzik. Ashland Daily Tidings. Published 02/02/2011.
Accompanied by three parents and Sherbow, the students rode two miles from school to the farm on the Bear Creek Greenway using bikes on loan from Scenic Middle School in Central Point. At the farm, the students pulled weeds from garlic beds they planted in October and planted lettuce seeds in a greenhouse. Read the entire article.

Local school germinates entry in garden contest by Randi Bjornstad. The Register-Guard. Published 01/30/2011.
The kids at Eugene’s Camas Ridge Community School are in the running to win a nationwide contest that would give a huge boost to their school garden program. The contest is sponsored by Annie’s Homegrown — they’re the folks who make things such as high-end macaroni-and-cheese and all-natural salad dressings — and the National Farm to School Network, who want to link more local farmers with schools to improve child nutrition and jump-start a life of healthy eating for kids. Read the entire article.

Video: Farm to School. Statesman Journal. Published 01/21/2011.
Gervais High School and Happy Harvest Farm are part of a project to bring local produce to school lunches Read the entire article.

FoodCorps program is coming to Oregon by Leslie Cole. The Oregonian. Published 12/03/2010.
FoodCorps volunteers will work in communities throughout Oregon, identified as having a pressing need in the area of school food systems. Program founders hope it will help slow the nation’s skyrocketing rates of childhood obesity and also give young people an avenue into farming. Read the entire article.

Students grow food for their own schools by Stefanie Knowlton. Statesman Journal . Published 10/29/2010.
Three schools in Oregon’s Salem-Keizer School District are expanding their garden programs with the aid of a USDA grant from the Oregon Department of Agriculture. The gardens will supply produce to school cafeterias and serve as science lessons for students. The Salem-Keizer Education Foundation, which is overseeing the grant, hopes to expand the project to all the district’s after-school programs. Read the entire article.

In this campaign, politicians out to lunch by David Sarasohn. The Oregonian . Published 10/16/2010.
Read the entire article.

Farm-to-school efforts take root in two districts by Mitch Lies. Capital Press. Published 10/14/2010.
Read the entire article.

School lunch gets healthier hands on by Jeanine Stice. Statesman Journal. Published 10/14/2010.
Read the entire article.

Sodexo Showcases Food Grown and Produced in Oregon with Locally-Sourced Lunch at Salem-Keizer Public. PR Newswire. Published 10/11/2010.
Read the entire article.

Oregon observes National School Lunch Week. Oregon Department of Agriculture . Published 10/06/2010.
Read the entire article.

Portland schools ditch nuggets, serve up local food by Michelle Venetucci Harvey. Grist. Published 09/16/2010.
Read the entire article.

Back to School Lunch . KOIN Local 6 . Published 09/16/2010.
Read the entire article.

Seven Cents to a Healthier Lunch: Portland Schools Serve up Local Fare by Michelle Venetucci Harvey. Sightline Daily . Published 09/15/2010.
Read the entire article.

School district makes healthy foods a priority for kids by John Tierney. KATU News . Published 09/08/2010.
Read the entire article.

Local Schools Improve Nutrition in School Lunches by Stacia Kalinoski. KEZI 9 News - Eugene . Published 09/08/2010.
Read the entire article.

Food Factory Portland’s schools are cooking up plans for healthier lunches by Hanna Neuschwander. Portland Monthly. Published 09/01/2010.
Read the entire article.

At lunchtime, we need to help our kids get fresh by David Sarasohn. The Oregonian. Published 08/14/2010.
The child nutrition reauthorization act, passed this month by the Senate and working its way through the House, renews about 10 national programs for five years, feeds tens of millions of children (and quite a few adults) and will cost many billions of dollars, including an increase of $5 billion to $8 billion. But when Susan Barker looks at it, she sees 6 cents. Read the entire article.

School districts use local farms to serve healthier food by Lindsay Keefer. Woodburn Independent. Published 08/04/2010.
Woodburn and North Marion school districts are joining the Gervais School District in a Farm to School program this year. The program, through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, also includes Ecotrust and Wellspring Medical Center, introducing the concept of providing local products for school meals. Read the entire article.

School districts use local farms to serve healthier food by Lindsay Keefer . Woodburn Independent. Published 08/04/2010.
Woodburn and North Marion school districts are joining the Gervais School District in a Farm to School program this year. Read the entire article.

Summer camp teaches kids about where food comes from by John Darling. Ashland Daily Tidings. Published 07/21/2010.
As elementary school-age children in a summer camp at Rogue Valley Brambles farm paint a chicken coop with scenes of trees, houses and airplanes Tuesday, owner Susan Muller assures them that the chickens will be a lot happier to live in it and lay eggs. The children have just fed and watered the chicks, given them pet names and checked to make sure they're getting both sun and shade and that their fence is secure. Read the entire article.

USDA Announces Recovery Act Efforts Aimed at Creating Jobs, Supporting Local and Regional Food Syste. USDA Newsroom. Published 07/13/2010.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced Recovery Act investments for 11 businesses in 9 states to strengthen rural economies by supporting local and regional food systems.

"Our farmers are the most productive in the world, supplying much of the nation's food, and in so doing, are creating the create jobs that are necessary to strengthen our economy," said Vilsack. "By connecting farmers and ranchers more closely with consumers of food, we are creating new economic opportunities for producers and helping consumers to access healthy, nutritious food." Read the entire article.

Momentum starts on new CREST farm by Cliff Newell. West Linn Tidings. Published 07/08/2010.
Bob Carlson is starting small with the new CREST Farm to School program. But some day it will be big – producing food for all 13 schools in the West Linn-Wilsonville School District. Read the entire article.

conversation about Farm to School and school gardens . KLCC. Published 06/19/2010.
KLCC's Food for Thought hosts speak with Megan Kemple with the Farm to School Program and Jared Pruch of the School Garden Project Read the entire article.

Bringing Back Locally Grown Produce. Organic Connections. Published 06/16/2010.
Lately there has been tremendous attention on the food being fed to children in schools, as it shapes their bodily health and dietary habits for the future. Ecotrust’s Food & Farms program has taken on this problem quite seriously, with an eye to sourcing school food locally as well.

“The sky’s the limit, I have to say, with regard to the farm-to-school initiative,” Kane said. “We got involved with it four or five years ago in the large public school district of Portland. The district consists of about 82 different schools and serves around 20,000 meals a day.” Read the entire article.

Advocates Work To Improve, Better Fund School Lunches by Rachael McDonald. OPB News. Published 06/10/2010.
For children from low income homes, school lunch can be the only consistent source of nourishment in their lives. The Federal Nutrition Guidelines for the school lunch program is up for renewal in Congress this year. KLCC's Rachael McDonald takes a look at school lunch, its nutrition, its value and its future. Read the entire article.

WFFC’s Farm to School program honored by USDA visit. Willamette Farm & Food Coalition. Published 05/26/2010.
WFFC’s Farm to School Programs in the Eugene 4J and Bethel School Districts were selected for a visit by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm to School Team in May 2010. Nearly 300 school districts nationwide requested a visit from the team and fifteen districts in nine areas were selected for a visit. Read the entire article.

Volunteers will go to areas where such food is hard to find and help procure local products by Leslie Cole. The Oregonian . Published 05/11/2010.
A new service program promises to recruit an army of volunteers to help transform school food and, perhaps, groom a new generation of farmers. Read the entire article.

Local foods go to school: Federal officials will visit Eugene to learn more about how local produce by Anne Williams. The Eugene Register Guard. Published 04/16/2010.
The Eugene and Bethel school districts’ food service programs have caught the eye of federal officials charged with leading a first-of-its-kind initiative aimed at bringing more fresh, local food to school cafeterias and teaching students where their food comes from. Read the entire article.

Farm-to-school project wins praise by Mitch Lies. Capital Press. Published 04/15/2010.
Quanbeck toured a school cafeteria, talked to school food buyers and toured Nature's Fountain Farm near Albany during her stop in Oregon last week. Scott Frost, who owns the farm, grows organic vegetables under contract for the farm-to-school program. He encouraged Quanbeck to promote the farm-to-school nationwide. "If anybody says this can't work, they need to come and talk to me," Frost said, "because it can work anywhere." Read the entire article.

Workshops explore program that brings healthy food from local farms to school cafeterias by Bill Rautenstrauch. The Observer . Published 03/10/2010.
Healthy foods in school cafeterias and possible new markets for local family farms were topics at “Farm-to-School” workshops hosted in Island City last Friday by Oregon Rural Action. Read the entire article.

Schools show off healthy fare by Raju Woodward. Corvallis Gazette-Times. Published 12/11/2009.
The lunch menu at Franklin School is aimed to expand students' taste in food beyond standard kid fare. On Thursday, along with the usual nachos and peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches, students could sample coleslaw. Read the entire article.

Kitzhaber, Bradbury wager friendly campaigns by John Sowell. NR Today. Published 11/22/2009.
If they didn't know better, the 215 people who attended Saturday evening's Flegel Victory Dinner might have thought John Kitzhaber and Bill Bradbury were working on the same campaign. Read the entire article.

National panel taps Lebanon teacher by Jennifer Moddy. Albany Democrat Herald. Published 10/24/2009.
Organizers of a national panel on environmental practices in school nutrition have tapped Lebanon's Pam Lessley as a participant. Lessley, the Lebanon Community School District's director of nutrition, will travel at the expense of the National Food Service Management Institute to Hattiesburg, Miss., this Monday. She will serve on a panel that is researching conservation practices to develop a survey for schools nationwide. She plans a presentation to the Lebanon School Board on the experience sometime after her return on Oct. 29. Read the entire article.

National panel taps Lebanon teacher by Jennifer Moddy. Albany Democrat Herald. Published 10/24/2009.
Organizers of a national panel on environmental practices in school nutrition have tapped Lebanon's Pam Lessley as a participant. Lessley, the Lebanon Community School District's director of nutrition, will travel at the expense of the National Foo Read the entire article.

School uses dinner as learning opportunity by Tarah Campi. Statesman Journal. Published 10/21/2009.
The line for dinner didn't let up for more than an hour earlier this month as students, parents and staffers celebrated the new school year at McKinley Elementary School with a meal together. It was the first big get-together after summer break, so there was lots to talk about. But at this gathering, most people were talking about the food - tomatoes, zucchini and other vegetables from Mount Angel growers; hormone-free herb-marinated chicken breast; and bushels of apples and pears delivered by the farmers who grew them. Read the entire article.

Downtown Throwdown Joins Local Food Events by Sarah Lemon. Mail Tribune. Published 10/15/2009.
As the season for food-centered events gears up, downtown Medford is emerging with a popular new tradition: the Downtown Throwdown. Regular participants in the Third Friday Art Walk are already familiar with the throwdown, which debuted in July. It's the brainchild of Nora LaBrocca, a designer for Terra Firma Home and owner of the quasi-catering company Downtown Market Co. Incidentally, LaBrocca has earned top marks in all three previous throwdowns against the stiff competition of 38 Central, Elements Tapas Bar & Lounge, Jackson Creek Pizza Co. and Deli Down. Read the entire article.

New Documentary on Local Food Movement has an Oregon-Heavy Cast by Scott Learn. The Oregonian. Published 09/28/2009.
A new local-food documentary, "Ingredients," has a Portland-based producer and a set of stars that's a bit of a who's who in Oregon's locavore movement. The cast of the feature-length film, which debuted in Portland this weekend, includes farmers and chefs from Oregon to New York talking about the benefits and challenges of buying food from local producers. Read the entire article.

Challenges, successes for schools by Richard Devlin. West Linn Tidings. Published 09/24/2009.
The 2009-10 school year is under way and I would like to welcome all the students, teachers, and school employees back to school and hope everyone has a productive and rewarding year. The Legislature faced many challenges this session and the global economic downturn forced us to make significant cuts across state government. Read the entire article.

Many limbs of family tree help berry business grow by Clarice Keating. Catholic Sentinel. Published 09/23/2009.
Theirs is a sweet life. Harvests begin to slow down this time of year for the Unger family, farmers of Oregon strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and grapes. As the trees turn to autumn colors, farmer's markets " 17 in all where Unger berries are represented " carry the fruits of the family's labor through early October. Farming is in the blood for this family. And like the tangled vines of the grapes they grow, the harvest season touches many different lines in their ancestral tree as well as within their community. Read the entire article.

USDA to America: "Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food" by Leslie Cole. The Oregonian. Published 09/16/2009.
Clearly there's a new sheriff in town in Washington, D.C. How else to explain USDA's new "Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food" initiative, announced yesterday? Agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack and deputy secretary Kathleen Merrigan say their department intends to begin a national conversation to build stronger local and regional food systems across the country. Read the entire article.

Building a Bridge to Somewhere: Farm to School by CookingUpaStory.com. Eat Well Guide Blog. Published 09/13/2009.
With great excitement about the USDA's Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food initiative, which rolled out this week, and particular joy over the White House farmers' market, which opens today, here is an inspirational video from our friends at Cooking Up a Story. This one is about a farmer who's helping build his local economy while feeding local schoolchildren more nutritious food. Farm to School networks, like farmer's markets, are excellent methods by which we can rebuild our local economies and our local food distribution systems. Read the entire article.

Talk of lottery cuts worries local retailers by Alex Paul. Albany Democrat-Herald. Published 08/23/2009.
That $56 million could have ensured that every child in Oregon eligible for Head Start was able to enroll in a program last year. It also could have funded a Farm to School nutrition initiative for four years. Read the entire article.

New law puts locally produced foods on menu by Peter Korn. Sustainable Life. Published 08/13/2009.
The House Bill 2763 takes effect in January. The bill amends state purchasing requirements so that public agencies can favor locally produced foods. Public agencies can buy locally grown or produced food even if it is as much as 10 percent more expensive than food from outside. Read the entire article.

School Board adds member to food panel by Hannah Guzik. Ashland Daily Tidings. Published 08/13/2009.
The School Board has chosen the members for new Food Service Study Committee. Tracy Harding, the executive director of the Rogue Valley Farm to School program, is included in this new committee. The 11 committee members will be tasked with creating a food service program that is healthier and cheaper than the one the district uses now. Read the entire article.

School Board to appoint food panel members by Hannah Guzik. Ashland Daily Tidings. Published 08/08/2009.
At the 7 p.m. meeting in the City Council Chambers, the board will need to choose between seven people who have applied for the community member positions. Tracy Harding is one of them; she is the executive director of the Rogue Valley Farm to School program. Read the entire article.

2010: Brian Clem's listening tour heads to Southern Oregon by Kari Chisholm. Blue Oregon. Published 08/01/2009.
State Rep. Brian Clem (D-Salem)mentions Farm to School in a TV interview. Read the entire article.

School Lunch Brings Home the Bacon by David Richardson. Miller-McCune. Published 07/14/2009.
In 2005, Ecotrust partnered with Portland's Abernethy Elementary for a semester-long experiment in far-to-school. The challenge was to find a way to extend the farm-fresh approach beyond one model school. Ecotrust secured a $150,000 grant from Kaiser Permanente Community Fund for a first-of-its-kind district wide study of a local purchasing incentive to work in the Read the entire article.

Salem Democrat Clem to test race for governor by Peter Wong. Statesman Journal. Published 07/07/2009.
He championed farm-to-school programs - although he failed to win funding to enable schools to buy Oregon produce and processed foods - and better relations between agriculture and environmentalists. Read the entire article.

Summer Fruit Made Simple by Natalie Haughton. Pasadena Star-News. Published 06/30/2009.
Cory Schreiber the farm-to-school food coordinator with the Oregon Department of Agriculture has co-written the cookbook "Rustic Fruit Desserts", which features fresh, local, and seasonal recipes. Read the entire article.

Guest Column: Oregon students could benefit from Farm to School program by Deborah J. Kane. Daily Astorian. Published 06/22/2009.
Other states invest resources to supplement the national school lunch and breakfast program, but Oregon currently doesn't allocate any state funding to school meals. HB2800 will change that by strategically allocating lottery resources to schools so that they can purchase more Oregon grown, processed and manufactured foods for the lunchroom. Read the entire article.

Legislature should add fresh food to school lunches by Deborah J. Kane. Mail Tribune. Published 06/21/2009.
Other states invest resources to supplement the national school lunch and breakfast program, but Oregon currently doesn't allocate any state funding to school meals. HB 2800 will change that by strategically allocating lottery resources to schools so that they can purchase more Oregon- grown, -processed and -manufactured foods for the lunch room. Read the entire article.

Add fresh food to school lunches by Deborah J. Kane. The Stump on OregonLive.com. Published 06/18/2009.
Other states invest resources to supplement the national school lunch and breakfast program, but Oregon currently doesn't allocate any state funding to school meals. HB2800 will change that by strategically allocating lottery resources to schools so that they can purchase more Oregon grown, processed and manufactured foods for the lunchroom. Read the entire article.

Committee sends ODA budget to Oregon Senate floor by Mitch Lies. Capital Press. Published 05/29/2009.
In the budget, ODA is proposing to preserve its farm-to-school coordinator position and a renewable energy position. Read the entire article.

Some ag bills move by Mitch Lies. Capital Press. Published 05/28/2009.
Oregon Department of Agriculture's budget cleared its first and potentially biggest hurdle this week. The budget protects the department's farm-to-school and renewable energy program coordinators. Read the entire article.

Contact Your Legislators about Farm to School Bill by Mel Reader. The Oregon Center for Christian Values. Published 05/27/2009.
We all know that Oregon faces a tremendous budget deficit this year and that's a big part of the reason we are working so hard to get the legislature to invest in the Farm to School and School Garden Program. This innovative program will add much-needed stimulus to the state's economy and feed hungry kids, whose numbers are growing as the economy worsens. Read the entire article.

Backers laud benefits of farm-to-school bill by Mitch Lies. Capital Press. Published 05/14/2009.
Farm-to-school backers brought out their big guns Tuesday, May 12, to testify in support of a bill backing local food purchases for school meals. At a hearing before a Ways and Means subcommittee, backers brought forward a true school-lunch expert - second-grader Zoe Kane. "I eat school lunch every day," Kane said, "so I am an expert in school lunch." Read the entire article.

Schools try local, fresher food by Stefanie Knowlton. Statesman Journal. Published 05/12/2009.
Workers at Happy Harvest Farm gathered heads of romaine lettuce and strawberries from the greenhouse about 8 a.m. By noon, the produce dotted trays at Gervais High School 6 miles away. Read the entire article.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Beard by Kim Carlson. Culinate. Published 05/05/2009.
Cory Schreiber, these days a farm-to-school administrator for the state of Oregon but also the chef who created Wildwood, appreciates Beard because "he drew on his Pacific Northwest childhood as a key foundation that developed American cuisine through his writings and teachings." Read the entire article.

Local food offers taste of the good old days by Karen Utley. Statesman Journal. Published 05/05/2009.
To make it easier for school lunch programs to connect with local economies, the Oregon Legislature in 2007 created the Farm to School program. More legislation, which would build on this program by allocating lottery money to schools to help them enrich their food programs with good locally grown food while supporting local economies, is under consideration. What a great idea! For the resulting better nutrition and stimulated economic growth cost? Seven cents per breakfast and 15 cents per lunch. Willamette Valley strawberries with Tillamook County cream on a school lunch tray? Priceless! Read the entire article.

3 candidates unopposed in ASD school board race. Daily Tidings. Published 05/02/2009.
Alexander, a writer and tutor, had previously decided not to run for reelection for position five, but she changed her mind after seeing that few locals were interested in running. During her tenure on the board, Alexander has been involved in the high school redesign process, second language committee and farm-to-school program. Read the entire article.

Farm to School: hands-on education about food. KMTR News. Published 04/24/2009.
Oregon's farm to school program working with 10 local farmers highlighted by local news. Read the entire article.

House committee sees farm to school bill as a priority. The Hillsboro Argus. Published 04/07/2009.
Read the entire article.

Oregon farmers' markets find a new customer: schools. Bend Weekly. Published 04/03/2009.
The farmers' market has proven to be a great place to find and purchase fresh, local food. For the same reason, it offers a connection between Oregon schools and local growers who can supply food that may eventually reach kids throughout the state. With the start of this year's farmers' market season, some school districts are looking to locate local food items this spring and the farms that produce them. Read the entire article.

Buy Locally, Eat At School by Dennis Newman. Natural Oregon. Published 04/02/2009.
With all the healthy food grown on Oregon farms, why doesn't more of it go to feed Oregon school kids? After all, locally grown food is usually fresher, more nutritious, and farmers could use the extra business. Putting those two goals together is the idea behind House Bill 2800, which expands Oregon's Farm-To-School program. The bill adds another $22 million into the pot of money schools can spend on lunch programs. That comes to about 15 cents a meal more for lunches, 7 cents more for a breakfast. Read the entire article.

Task force calls for a slimmer Oregon by Brad Cain. KVAL. Published 03/31/2009.
A state task force is calling for spending $3.5 million to restore daily physical education in Oregon schools to combat "alarming" rates of obesity. Read the entire article.

Study: Farm-to-school money boosts economy by Mateusz Perkowski. Capital Press. Published 03/26/2009.
An analysis by proponents of farm-to-school lunch programs indicates that money spent on local food has positive implications beyond the cafeteria. Preliminary results show that each dollar of the $66,200 invested so far actually amounted to about $1.87 in economic activity. Read the entire article.

Farm-to-School Programs Promoted as Economically Beneficial by Isabel Cowles. Finding Dulcinea. Published 03/25/2009.
Read the entire article.

Rep. Clem to receive farm-to-school honor. Statesman Journal. Published 03/20/2009.
Rep. Brian Clem, D-Salem, will receive an award for his leadership in moving local food to schools in Oregon at the National Farm to Cafeteria Conference in Portland on Thursday. Read the entire article.

Rep. Clem to receive farm-to-school honor by Beth Casper. Statesman Journal. Published 03/20/2009.
Read the entire article.

Local Lunch by Radio program with guests Cory Schreiber, Rep. Brian Clem, Kristy Obbink, and Guy Jaeger. Oregon Public Broadcasting, Think Out Loud. Published 03/20/2009.
Read the entire article.

Local Gardeners Praise White House Kitchen Garden by Lynne Terry. Oregonian. Published 03/20/2009.
Read the entire article.

Portland Public Schools students learn how to be seasonal and regional eaters by Maureen Mackey. Examiner. Published 03/16/2009.
Read the entire article.

Doom in the lunchroom by Matt Petryni. Daily Emerald. Published 03/12/2009.
It's time to think about how schools can practice in the lunchroom what they preach in the classroom, to envision a school lunch program that is both healthy and ecologically sustainable. Read the entire article.

Columbia Forum discovers you are what you eat by Deeda Shroeder. The Daily Astorian. Published 03/05/2009.
Schreiber is an award-winning chef, managing the Oregon Department of Education's Farm to School program. At his ground-breaking Portland restaurant Wildwood, Schreiber helped define what's now widely understood to be Northwest regional cuisine. After opening the restaurant 13 years ago, he established relationships with farmers to keep his larders full of fresh vegetables, fruit and herbs, a practice that's much more common today. Schreiber left Wildwood in 2007, and for the last 15 months has been focusing his effort on bringing that farm-direct approach of food purchasing to the kitchens and cafeterias of Oregon's public school system. Read the entire article.

'The Amazing Food Detective' sends kids a fun message about healthy eating by Marty Hughley. The Oregonian. Published 02/24/2009.
Meanwhile, Farm to School, another national program administered here through Portland Public Schools, aims to increase the amount of fresh fruits and vegetables served in school meals. Read the entire article.

Students plot local action by Alex Paul. Gazette-Times. Published 01/29/2009.
Don't be surprised if you soon see locally grown food carrying a label created by students in Peg Cornell's AP Environmental Science class at Crescent Valley High School. One of the year-long projects is called Farm to School, and it is part of a nationwide program through which school districts buy produce from local farmers. Read the entire article.

A Department of All Kinds of Agriculture by Deborah J. Kane. Salem-News. Published 01/28/2009.
As the new U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack will have many proverbial rows to hoe. At his recent senate confirmation hearing, he got a small taste of just how many. Read the entire article.

Two school board members will not return by Julie French. Ashland Daily Tidings. Published 01/27/2009.
Alexander currently serves on the farm-to-school and second language committees. She would like to continue to work on both of those projects after her term expires, she said. Read the entire article.

A Department of All Kinds of Agriculture by Deborah J. Kane. Oregon Live. Published 01/23/2009.
This year, legislators in Salem are considering a bill that would bring more Oregon-grown, -processed and -manufactured products into the public school lunchroom. Known as the "farm to school" bill, some have already assumed the legislation is intended to help small family farmers load up pickup trucks and head to schools with lovingly harvested organic broccoli. It is. The bill is also intended to support production agriculture in our state by making the school cafeteria a viable marketplace for all of Oregon agriculture. Read the entire article.

Consumer Wellness Center Announces $1000 Nutritional Grant Award for Corvallis "Farm to School" Pr by Mike Adams. Natural News. Published 01/05/2009.
Our second well-deserved Consumer Wellness Nutritional Grant Award is awarded to The Corvallis Environmental Center for their "Farm to School Program." "We are thrilled to support the CEC's efforts to teach schoolchildren about real food," said Mike Adams, the Executive Director of the Consumer Wellness Center and the creator of the Nutrition Grant Program. "This is the kind of activity that's needed throughout modern society to reconnect children with food and health. I hope this becomes a model of food education that's replicated throughout the nation." Read the entire article.

OSU taste tests grain-fed vs. grass-fed beef in Portland schools by Oregon State University Extension Service. Oregon Natural Resource Report. Published 12/30/2008.
Children can tell the difference between grass- and grain-fed beef, but when it comes to preference, they're evenly split, according to taste tests that Oregon State University conducted at two grade schools in Portland. Portland Public Schools asked OSU to conduct the surveys as part of its effort to serve more locally produced food. The district had been considering serving hamburger patties made from local grass-fed cattle instead of the grain-fed beef that it now serves and whose origin is unknown to the district. Read the entire article.

Bill to add $22M to school lunches by Erin Mills. The East Oregonian. Published 12/20/2008.
Farm to School initiative aiming to put Oregon food in Oregon schools. Known so far as the 2009 Farm to School bill, it asks the legislature to spend $22 million to supplement school lunch programs. The bill would add 15 cents toward every lunch and 7 cents toward every breakfast that is served in Oregon public schools. The catch is that schools who wish to participate in the program must use the money to purchase Oregon-produced food. Furthermore, in order to qualify for the extra 15 or 7 cents, schools must prove they are spending an equal amount of national school food program funds on Oregon foods. Read the entire article.

What's for lunch? Less junk by Christian Gaston. Pamplin Media Group. Published 12/11/2008.
Grant helps Portland Public Schools feed kids more local food. Kristy Obbink, director of nutrition services at PPS, says that the district's Harvest of the Month and Local Lunch programs, which put farm-fresh produce on cafeteria plates twice a month, has her questioning the assumption that kids won't eat healthy foods. It turns out students kind of like parsnips. Read the entire article.

New broccoli fans keen for green by Matt Neznanski. Gazette-Times. Published 12/10/2008.
How do you know you've got great broccoli? Elementary school children come back for seconds. Or thirds. Wednesday's effort was the third tasting table set up by the Corvallis Environmental Center's Farm to School program, designed to increase the amount of locally grown foods served in school cafeterias. Read the entire article.

PURS to fold under limited budget by Mitch Lies. Capital Press. Published 12/04/2008.
Recently added positions the governor proposed to fund include the department's farm-to-school and renewable energy positions - two positions at risk because of their short tenures. Read the entire article.

Test Kitchen by Sarah Lemon. Mail Tribune. Published 12/03/2008.
Farm-to-school program gets a tryout in Ashland School District; 'It's 'great to try something new' Read the entire article.

Oregon House Democrats release "Job Creation and Family Support Plan" by Carla Axtman. Blue Oregon. Published 11/25/2008.
In a Salem press conference today, House Speaker-Designee Dave Hunt and Majority Leader Mary Nolan rolled out the Dems initial plan for job creation and family support including an increase of farm to school programs. Read the entire article.

Ashland starts Farm to School program by Andrea Pettes. KDRV. Published 11/13/2008.
The Ashland School District has partnered with the Ashland Food Co-op to teach the young kids about locally grown products. Beginning Thursday, the Farm to School Program will allow kids at Ashland schools to enjoy the same locally grown foods as Co-op customers. Read the entire article.

Oregon schools embrace local produce programs by Don Schrack. The Packer. Published 10/31/2008.
It was a simple, yet challenging concept: a healthful environment and community can exist amidst a robust economy. A Portland, Ore.-based non-profit organization, with assistance from growers, food processors and retailers - and a nearly $300,000 grant from the Kaiser-Permanente Community Fund - is taking its message of a healthful environment and community into Portland Public Schools. Read the entire article.

The Farm-to-Schools Movement: Schools across the state serve up change by Rebecca Mayer. The Lake Oswego Review. Published 10/30/2008.
Corn dogs and tator tots are being voted out of school cafeterias across the country. Unless of course they're made from scratch with local, all-natural ingredients. Lunch ladies (and gents) are pioneering a food movement from coast to coast that encompasses a variety of more healthful options: from farm-to-schools programs and scratch kitchens to organic, gluten-free, dairy-free and vegetarian options. The National Farm-to-School Network dates back to a 2000 project funded by the USDA Initiative for Future Agriculture and Food Systems. The aim is to not only put local food on the table for schoolkids but to help students to understand where food comes from and how food choices affect our bodies and the environment Read the entire article.

KBOO Food Show. KBOO-FM. Published 10/20/2008.
Read the entire article.

Growing lunch by Leslie Cole. The Oregonian. Published 10/14/2008.
Mention school lunches, and it's hard to find someone who's not hungry for change. Maybe you can't see, smell or taste it just yet, but the shape of public school meals is shifting, in the Portland area and beyond. Despite other hurdles -- and there are many -- school food service directors are buying fresh fruits and vegetables from nearby farmers when they can, with little or no additional federal or state money in their pockets. Read the entire article.

Farm Lets Kids Have A Field Day by Don Robinson. The Register -Guard Springfield Extra. Published 10/02/2008.
This recent Friday outing was the start of an official farm field trip under the Farm to School program guided by the Willamette Farm and Food Coalition. Megan Kemple, the coalition's Farm to School coordinator and one of its two full-time staff members, helped lead the tour. She also showed those who were not out in the fields how to trim onions with a scissors. Joining in were Bobbi Phillips, Springfield schools' new nutrition services director, and Joan Ottinger of Salem, coordinator of the state's new Farm to School program, authorized by the Legislature in a special session last February. The program aims to bring more locally grown food into school lunches. Read the entire article.

Food Print by Carey Quan Gelernter. The Seattle Times. Published 09/28/2008.
These programs connect schools with local farms with the goal of serving healthy meals in school cafeterias, improving student nutrition and supporting local small farmers. farmtoschool.org Read the entire article.

Ore. lawmakers seek local food for schools by Associated Press. Oregon Live. Published 09/25/2008.
Two legislators want $22 million from the next session to use more local food for school breakfasts and lunches. Rep. Brian Clem, D-Salem, and Tina Kotek, D-Portland say they want to add 15 cents to each lunch and 7 cents to each breakfast for local food purchases. Schools have some new flexibility to buy local foods. But state officials say decisions now must rely on price. Read the entire article.

Farm-to-school funding plan aired by Mitch Lies. Capital Press. Published 09/25/2008.
Reps. Brian Clem, D-Salem, and Tina Kotek, D-Portland, said Thursday, Sept. 18, they will seek $22 million in the next legislative session to put more local food on school breakfast and lunch plates. Clem and Kotek said at the Western Regional Assembly of the National Farm to School Network they want the state to put an extra 15 cents toward every lunch and 7 cents toward every breakfast to pay for local food purchases. Read the entire article.

Soup's on for school lunch in Springfield by Mark Baker. The Register-Guard. Published 09/16/2008.
Monday was the first day of adding soup to the menu of the district's 24 schools, part of a new plan created by nutrition services Director Bobbi Phillips. The district hired Phillips in June to create a more healthful menu lower in fat, with lots of fruits and vegetables from local farms. That's critical in a school district where more than half the 11,300 students qualify for free or reduced lunches as part of the federal National School Lunch Program, Phillips said. Read the entire article.

School leaders look at putting fresher food on the table by Patty Mamula. The Capital Press. Published 09/05/2008.
A recent conference titled "What Shall We Feed Our Children" highlighted positive changes and longstanding problems related to school lunches and other nutrition programs for children. Improved nutrition starts with education. "How do we get kids who have been raised on convenience foods to eat "good' food" Kristy Obbink, food services director for Portland Public Schools, said. Her district took the first step by eliminating the a la carte lunch items three years ago. Read the entire article.

Schools try to keep food cost low, quality high by Anne Williams. The Register-Guard. Published 09/02/2008.
Rising food and fuel prices are putting the squeeze on school cafeteria budgets across the nation, but most local school districts won't be asking families to pick up much of the extra costs ? not yet, anyway. For instance, the district will be working with the Farm to School program to bring in more locally grown, organic produce, and every school will offer made-from-scratch soup daily. Read the entire article.

Some schools to start serving local, seasonal foods. KATU. Published 09/01/2008.
Students in the Portland and Gervais school districts will have much healthier, and local, options for lunch this year. Read the entire article.

Grant from Kaiser Permanente Community Fund Puts Local Food on the Menu. The Earth Times. Published 08/27/2008.
The first school assembly of the new academic year will take place today at 10 a.m., at Atkinson Elementary in South East Portland, where school food and education leaders will gather alongside farmers, food producers, grocery retailers and government officials to cheer a grant from the Kaiser Permanente Community Fund at the Northwest Health Foundation that will subsidize approximately 2,640,000 meals with the funds needed to serve more Oregon grown and processed foods in Portland Public Schools and Gervais School Districts. Read the entire article.

Coordinator hired for food program by Mackenzie Ryan. Statesman Journal. Published 07/22/2008.
Oregon Department of Education recently hired Joan Ottinger to coordinate the department's Farm-to-School and School Garden programs. Read the entire article.

Farm-to-school liaison will provide guidance by Paris Achen. Mail Tribune. Published 07/17/2008.
In a jab at childhood obesity, the Oregon Department of Education has hired a farm-to-school coordinator to work with the state agriculture department to help schools start their own farms and buy local fresh produce. Read the entire article.

Farmers take part in Farm to School Program by Ashley Hall. KDRV News 12. Published 06/24/2008.
Southern Oregon farmers are taking part in a program they hope will one day provide more locally grown food to area schools. The Farm To School Program would put local produce, flour, eggs, and other food products in school cafeterias. Read the entire article.

In search of food's 98 percent solution by Scott Exo. The Oregonian. Published 06/23/2008.
The future for Oregon farmers and ranchers lies not in a futile race to grow and sell more and to do it more cheaply. Their success will be in growing and marketing high quality, highly differentiated, branded products with a credible sustainability story. Read the entire article.

Students grow lunches by Jennifer Moody. Albany Democrat-Herald. Published 06/14/2008.
Salad greens grown at Seven Oak Middle School have already hit that cafeteria. Now, the greens will be served as part of the free lunches distributed every summer at various locations. Plenty of schools in the fertile Willamette Valley have gardens, but very few grow food to be consumed by students. That may change as food and transportation prices rise and schools look for new ways to motivate healthy choices. Read the entire article.

Many Ore. districts unaware of local food purchase options by Associated Press. KTVZ. Published 06/01/2008.
A survey by the Oregon Department of Agriculture has found that nearly half of Oregon's school food purchasers don't know they can buy from local producers. The Oregon Department of Education is expected to fill a companion position to Schreiber's this summer, making Oregon the first state to have companion farm-to-school program positions in the state departments of education and agriculture. Read the entire article.

From Farm to Table in Portland Public Schools by Deborah Kane. NW Kids. Published 06/01/2008.
Deborah Kane, Vice President of Ecotrust, talks about the wide scope of farm to school programs to create life-long healthy eaters, what programs exist in the Portland area, and how Portland Public Schools has begun incorporate these programs. Read the entire article.

Districts quizzed on buying local food by Mitch Lies. The Capital Press. Published 05/23/2008.
Nearly half of Oregon's school food purchasers don't know whether they even have the option of buying local food. That was one of the surprise answers to come from a survey the Oregon Department of Agriculture is conducting with Oregon school food buyers. Read the entire article.

Farm To School: Ecotrust Keeps It Local by Lizbeth M. Brown, Esq.. Eco Times. Published 05/05/2008.
Michelle Markesteyn, Ph.D. is a major force at Food & Farms, as the Farm To School and School Garden Program Coordinator. Farm To School programs enable schools to provide students with healthy, locally-sourced meals, incorporate nutrition-based curriculum, and provide experiential learning through farm visits, gardening, and recycling. Read the entire article.

Oregon's school-lunch crunch by Maya Blackmun. The Oregonian. Published 03/29/2008.
In the geography of a public school lunch, lessons can be learned of faraway places. Teachers at Archer Glen Elementary School could serve them up daily if students traced their school lunches to their origins. Read the entire article.

Students aren't hip to the beet generation by Betsy Hammond. The Oregonian. Published 02/28/2008.
Since last February, elementary students have been offered local produce twice each month in the Harvest of the Month program -- squash in November, cherry cobbler in December, pears in January. But it doesn't mean the kids have to love beets. Read the entire article.

Even if you wince, don't look away by Deborah Kane. The Oregonian. Published 02/28/2008.
When we remember that the line between agricultural issues and health issues is paper thin, we have a real chance at crafting solutions that result in healthier children and a healthier farm economy. Read the entire article.

Fresh beets on the school lunch menu by Michael Rollins. The Oregonian. Published 02/27/2008.
Portland Public Schools, in collaboration with Ecotrust, has been trying to serve locally-grown fruit and produce all year in school lunches. At Meriwether Lewis Elementary School in Southeast Portland, the regular pizza lunch and taco lunch this day included optional helpings of beets, which were baked whole, then sliced. This video is of lunch on Feb. 27, 2008. Read the entire article.

Second annual session is in voters' hands by Peter Wong. Statesman Journal. Published 02/25/2008.
He also won passage of another bill establishing a farm-to-school program to promote links between Oregon agriculture and students. Read the entire article.

Ore. lawmakers wrap up their 'test drive' annual session by Brad Cain and Julia Silverman. The Capital Press. Published 02/23/2008.
he Oregon Legislature's "test drive" of annual sessions came to a close late Friday after a day spent wrangling over final details on spending bills, bonding authority and a legislative referral on prison sentences. Among other bills approved in the Legislature's rush to close out the session: A plan to hire a farm-to-school coordinator for the Oregon Department of Education won support. Read the entire article.

Farm to school bill gets unanimous support from Oregon House by Associated Press. Oregon Live. Published 02/22/2008.
A plan to hire a farm-to-school coordinator for the Oregon Department of Education has won unanimous approval from the Oregon House of Representatives. The coordinator will be a liaison between Oregon school districts and local farmers. The idea is to help schools find local farmers and negotiate contracts with them and to make sure of compliance with federal rules on school food purchasing. Read the entire article.

Farm to school bill gets unanimous support from Oregon House by Associated Press. The Examiner. Published 02/22/2008.
A plan to hire a farm-to-school coordinator for the Oregon Department of Education has won unanimous approval from the Oregon House of Representatives. Read the entire article.

Farm-to-school bill gets unanimous support from Oregon House by Associated Press. The Capital Press. Published 02/22/2008.
Representative Tina Kotek of Portland, the sponsor, says the bill will help open markets for Oregon farmers. Read the entire article.

School food bill advances but without added funds by Mitch Lies. Capital Press. Published 02/22/2008.
Oregon's farm-to-school program received a slight boost on Feb. 19 when the Oregon Legislature's budget writing committee moved a farm-to-school bill to the House floor, but with a caveat. The joint Ways and Means Committee failed to provide funding for the program. Read the entire article.

Healthy foods rise to top of menu by Kara Hansen. The Daily Astorian. Published 02/13/2008.
Preparing some of the meals at Astoria High School has become a live performance of sorts with the addition of display cooking, a technique that aims to give students a hot, high-quality meal, its freshness proven by their ability to watch it made before their eyes. There's a statewide move toward farm-to-school food programs, for both environmental and health benefits. In Astoria, much of the district's produce and other foods already come from Oregon or not far from it: potatoes from Sherwood, rutabagas grown in Troutdale, apples and cherries from Rainier and Washington-milled flour. Read the entire article.

Lawmakers take up farm-to-school plan by Mitch Lies. Capital Press. Published 02/05/2008.
An Oregon House committee on Jan. 23 forwarded a farm-to-school bill to the full Legislature that supporters said could improve school lunch menus and benefit Oregon farmers. Known currently as Legislative Concept 79, the bill calls for the state to add $95,000 to the Oregon Department of Education's 2007-09 budget to hire a farm-to-school program coordinator. The coordinator would work with chef Cory Schreiber, whom the Oregon Department of Agriculture hired earlier this year to be its farm-to-school program coordinator. Read the entire article.

Lean Funds Keep School Food Fatty by Scott Learn and Betsy Hammond. The Oregonian. Published 02/03/2008.
Oregon's school nutrition leaders are trying to put more fresh foods in students' lunches, rely less on high-fat foods and buy from local farms and food processors. But economic constraints force most to rely on commodity meats and other products. Recent video footage of downed cows being slaughtered at a plant that sources to schools around the country highlighted the frustration school districts have receiving unknown ingredients. This article looks at the current make-up of school lunches and why and how Oregonians are fighting to transform it. Read the entire article.

Multiplication tables by Editorial Board. The Oregonian. Published 01/22/2008.
Parents want their kids to eat more fresh produce, schools want to serve it, and Oregon farmers are eager to sell it. While the state Department of Agriculture has expertise in farms and food processing, Schreiber will need a counterpart with expertise in school nutrition to meet him halfway. That's why the farm-to-school coalition will be in Salem this week, seeking $95,000 for a matching position -- think salt and pepper -- in the state Department of Education. Read the entire article.

Cory Schreiber Takes on Hot Lunch by Stacy Larsen. Live PDX. Published 01/15/2008.
Currently, only 14% of school nutrition services food originates in Oregon. Working out of the Food Innovation Center, Schreiber's focus is to increase the amount of fresh, Oregon foods moving from farmers to school cafeterias to upwards of 50%. Read the entire article.

Chef leads effort to serve Oregon food to students by Leslie Cole. The Oregonian. Published 01/08/2008.
The Oregon Department of Agriculture hires its first farm-to-school coordinator to increase the quantity of Oregon-grown foods in school lunchrooms. The new hire? Renowned Portland chef Cory Schreiber. Read the entire article.

Pioneer in Northwest cuisine works on Oregon school supplies by Associated Press. Rockford Register Star. Published 12/30/2007.
As the acclaimed, James Beard award-winning chef of Wildwood Restaurant in Portland for 13 years, Cory Schreiber has served plenty of discerning patrons. But come 2008, he'll have to please a whole new set of picky palates: Oregon's schoolchildren. Read the entire article.

Restaurateur leads farm-to-school effort. East Oregonian. Published 12/26/2007.
The Oregon Department of Agriculture has hired noted chef and author Cory Schreiber to spearhead and manage the department's efforts to increase use of Oregon fresh and processed foods in the state's school feeding programs. Read the entire article.

Oregon Department of Agriculture hires noted chef by Associated Press. KTVZ. Published 12/22/2007.
The Oregon Department of Agriculture has hired a James Beard award winning chef to try and get more locally grown food into Oregon schools. Read the entire article.

Renowned restaurateur to help get more Oregon foods into schools. The Oregonian. Published 12/20/2007.
The Oregon Department of Agriculture announces the hiring of noted chef and author Cory Schreiber to spearhead and manage the department's efforts to increase utilization of Oregon fresh and processed foods in the state's school food programs. In his new role, Schreiber will work with farmers, food processors, distributors and school district food service staff, as well as existing farm-to-school groups and programs, to help get more nutritious, locally produced foods into Oregon schools. Read the entire article.

A taste for local food in Oregon schools by Bruce Pokarney. The Hillsboro Argus. Published 10/23/2007.
Oregon Dept. of Agriculture proponents of getting more nutritious and locally-grown foods into Oregon schools may have additional support thanks to a project just completed by Oregon State University and one just getting started by the Oregon Department of Agriculture. Read the entire article.

Local students are eating up fresh produce by Sheila G. Miller. The Bulletin. Published 10/09/2007.
Throughout the year, students in the Bend-La Pine Schools stand in front of a large fruit and vegetable bar and often get the chance to choose between locally grown wedges of cantaloupe and watermelon, some grabbing dozens of cherry tomatoes and pepper strips. The produce comes through a farm-to-school program, sparked by the same woman who manages the Bend Farmers Market. Read the entire article.

Oregon State/ODA Project Adds Momentum to Farm-to-School Efforts by Staff. Western Farmer-Stockman. Published 09/10/2007.
Proponents of getting more nutritious and locally-grown foods into Oregon schools may have additional support thanks to a project just completed by Oregon State University and one just starting by the Oregon Department of Agriculture. Read the entire article.

Lunch Program Goes Hollywood by Capi Lynn. Statesman Journal. Published 08/06/2007.
This program is one of nine in the nation to be featured in a film project highlighting the best practices of school lunchrooms...The district's participation in 'Cooks for Kids', a nine-part series coordinated by the National Food Service Management Institute at the University of Mississippi, may even bring attention to Oregon's proposed farm-to-school legislation. Read the entire article.

Homegrown freshness on menu for Oregon schools by Amy Hsuan. The Oregonian. Published 06/03/2007.

Evolution is transforming Oregon school lunches, as the movement toward calorie-conscious fare adds another goal: becoming homegrown.

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Schools put farming back on the table by Oregon School Boards Association. Oregon School Boards Association. Published 05/01/2007.
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Bills connect local schools with locally grown food by Peter Wong. The Statesman Journal. Published 04/12/2007.
Three bills, approved Wednesday by the House Education Committee and pending in the Legislature's budget committee, could lead to increased awareness of agriculture by students, greater participation in school gardens, and more sales of fresh and processed Oregon food to Oregon schools. Read the entire article.

Farm-to-School Programs Need More Support. Capital Press. Published 03/30/2007.

Kudos to the politicians and groups, ranging from agricultural to conservation organization, who seek to develop a Farm to School program. There are various House bills working through the Oregon Legislature to encourage schools to not only use healthier foods, but to specifically serve Oregon-produced agricultural products.

Read the entire article.

Portland schools push local produce by Mateusz Perkowski. Capital Press. Published 03/02/2007.
Students in 56 schools in the Portland area are served locally grown food as part of Harvest of the Month Read the entire article.

Chef finds joy cooking for some of Portlands Smallest Eaters by Leslie Cole. The Oregonian. Published 10/10/2006.
Chef James Fowler measures success not by Michelin stars for his kitchen or huzzahs from well-heeled patrons, but by the cheers of two fourth-graders who hear that their homegrown cucumbers from the schoolyard will show up on the salad bar. Read the entire article.

Midsummer Night Dream Dessert Party Tomorrow by Kim Ricketts Book Events. SeattlePi. Published 00/01/0000.
Join us for "A Midsummer Night's Dessert Party" on July 29, in celebration of Cory Schreiber and Julie Richardson's new book Rustic Fruit Desserts: Crumbles, Buckles, Cobblers, Pandowdies and More. Cory Schreiber now works as the Farm-to-School Food Coordinator with the Oregon Dept. of Agriculture and continues to teach, write, consult and cook in Portland, Oregon. Read the entire article.

Students duck into agriculture by Raju Woodward. Corvallis Gazette-Times. Published 00/01/0000.
Giving urban children a glimpse into farm life is the reason that Cynthia Kapple began hosting field trips at her farm five years ago. She said about 20 classes visit Midway Farms every year.
"Corvallis and Albany are surrounded by hundreds of acres of farmlands," she said. "So I think it's crazy there are kids in this area who've never been on a farm." Read the entire article.

Farm To School And School Garden House Bill 2800. Onward Oregon. Published 00/01/0000.
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