Virginia Media Coverage

Western Loudoun Schools To Begin Pilot Food Project by Margaret Morton. Leesburg Today. Published 03/21/2011.
It's been more than a year in the making, but starting next month 15 western Loudoun public schools are set to begin a new partnership between the Loudoun County Public Schools system and Kilmer Farms & Orchard to bring locally produced fruit and vegetables into their cafeterias. Read the entire article.

Moving fresh produce from farm to school by Amanda Sears. The Richmond Register. Published 02/18/2011.
Several organizations and individuals in Madison County are working together to provide fresh local produce for the Madison County and Berea Independent School district, as well as St. Joseph Hospital in Berea. Emily Agee, food service director for Madison County Schools, has put together a list of what fruits and vegetables are needed by each school in our district. It is not necessarily expected that one farmer could fill the order for all the schools, but perhaps could cover one or two schools or work together with other producers to fill orders. Read the entire article.

BLUE DEViL BISTRO: Astounding variety and healthy choices by Laura Schaffer . Hometown Focus. Published 02/06/2011.
Good, healthy food choices. That is, and always has been, the mission of Virginia Public Schools’ Food Services Department. With the percentage of overweight children in America having grown to an astonishing one out of three children, many schools are beginning to take steps to change this trend. Virginia Schools are ahead of the game. Read the entire article.

Parents, consumers face new food options by Robert Stern. The Washington Times. Published 01/27/2011.
January has been a banner month for ingredient-readers. From school cafeterias to grocery store aisles, “food” is on everyone’s tongue. Read the entire article.

Va. Beach trying to put local fruit on school plates by Jaedda Armstrong. Hampton Roads. Published 05/17/2010.
New on the menu at Virginia Beach Public Schools are locally grown strawberries. Well, sort of. They're from a farm in Clinton, N.C. Still, this is a sweet victory for school officials who for years have tried to replace prepackaged products with fresh local foods. "Local" is defined by the school district as foods grown within 400 miles of Virginia Beach. Read the entire article.

The 100-Mile Thanksgiving by Timothy Beatley. The Design Observer Group. Published 11/23/2009.
What will be the energy footprint of your Thanksgiving dinner? How far will your turkey travel to the table? These are the kinds of question we're learning to ask at our planning program at the University of Virginia, where for several years we've been teaching courses in community food. Read the entire article.

A fresh approach to school lunch. Greene County Record. Published 11/19/2009.
"The only vending machines that spit out snacks are in staff areas," said Debbie Brown, assistant superintendent for the Greene County School Division. She suggested that those machines be stocked with "such things as SunChips and granola bars." Moreover, Greene's school system is going all out to see that the produce it serves its students is as fresh as it can be. Last week the school division started serving locally grown produce to students via the Virginia Farm to School Program, developed by the Virginia Department of Education and the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs. Read the entire article.

Fruits of labor by Bob Stuart. NewsVirginian.com. Published 11/12/2009.
Area school students are enjoying lunches this week that include apples from a Timberville orchard, lettuce from gardens in Dayton and organic Asian pears from Natural Bridge. Read the entire article.

Farm to School Week by Henry Graff. NBC29. Published 11/09/2009.
Students at Hollymead Elementary School are getting a taste of local veggies this week. This week Albemarle county schools are celebrating "Farm to School Week." Read the entire article.

Outdoor Classroom by Mark Sage and Caitlin Sullivan. Southwest Virginia Today. Published 09/30/2009.
Three hundred sixth-graders descended onto Johnson's Highland Dairy Farm on Tuesday and another 300 are scheduled to show up today at part of the sixth grade Conservation Farm Field Day organized by Holston River Soil & Water Conservation District. The students picked at benthic macroinvertebrates from the stream, fed calves and learned about how a dairy works and where the manure goes. They also learned about topographic maps, cover crops, soil and erosion, the water cycle, water conservation and the effects of land use on water quality. These are all things the sixth-graders would be learning anyway, from their textbooks, but on this day they get to see, smell and feel it. Dave Johnson began opening up his family farm to school children about 20 years ago. Usually a teacher would call him and a class of schoolchildren would take a tour of the farm. Since the first Farm Field Day five years ago, his farm reaches more people. Read the entire article.

Local food movement still gaining momentum by Lindsey Nair. The Roanoke Times. Published 09/13/2009.
The Virginia Department of Agriculture recently created a Farm-to-School program to encourage public schools to spend some of their $6 million annual produce budget with local growers. The department also recently unveiled an interactive Web site to help Virginians find local products. Read the entire article.

Potluck promotes local food for schools by Colleen Redman. Soutwest Virginia Today. Published 09/10/2009.
Black bean paté, pork ribs from Bright Farm, bread from Sweetwater Bakery, a casserole, fresh peaches, and apple pie were some of the dishes enjoyed at the Time for Lunch potluck, held on Labor Day at the Floyd Country Store. The event was initiated by Slow Food USA to promote locally grown and produced food in public schools and was organized by Slow Food USA member Yvonne Hodgkins.Co Read the entire article.

Farmers' market ready for fall produce by Joel Turner. The Franklin News-Post. Published 09/09/2009.
Even though the summer is coming to an end, farmers' markets in Rocky Mount and other localities in Virginia are not closing for the season. Post-Labor Day produce is more plentiful than in the past, according to the Virginia Farm Bureau. Read the entire article.

Help improve children by Heather Taylor. Collegiate Times. Published 08/26/2009.
It's no secret that rates of childhood obesity and diabetes are on the rise. Both conditions have been proven to be directly linked to diet, specifically the kinds of overprocessed entrees, a la carte fast food items and vending machine junk food that are often the only school lunch options available to any kid whose parents don't pack their lunch. Read the entire article.

Farm to School program brings organic beef to local students by Ken Odor. The Goochland Gazette. Published 05/06/2009.
County students got another chance to sample locally produced food a few weeks ago as they dined on tacos made with organic beef from Brookview Farm. Read the entire article.

Agriculture Week brings Va. food to Goochland schools by Ken Odor. The Goochland Gazette. Published 03/25/2009.
What can you do with five bushels of sweet potatoes? Well, you can feed them to 2,400 county public students, that's what. Of course, there were other items on the menu for lunch last Wednesday, but one item at all county schools was sweet potatoes grown right here in Virginia. The lunch was the kick-off for Goochland's participation in VDACS Farm to School program. The goal of Farm to School is to bring nutritious fresh food from local farms to schools, including K-12, colleges and universities. Read the entire article.

Rural agricultural forum tackles local buying by Shannon Sollinger. Loudoun Times. Published 03/24/2009.
Matt Benson, with the Virginia Cooperative Extension in Warrenton, talked about opportunities for local farmers through the Farm to School Program. The program aims to to get local food into public and private school cafeterias from kindergarten through college. Farm to school delivery, Benson said, gets more nutritious food to the students, and it's good for the farmers. Read the entire article.

Reaping the fruits of his labor by Peter Frost. Daily Press. Published 12/27/2008.
Public schools, colleges and health care facilities also have become big customers in the last two decades, as those institutions began to demand more fresh products through initiatives like Virginia's Farm-to-School Program. Read the entire article.

Senator Whipple's Richmond Report by Mary Margaret Whipple. Falls Church News-Press. Published 12/18/2008.
Farm-to-school programs that provide locally-grown fruits and vegetables for school lunches; healthy snacks, juices and water in vending machines; nutrition classes in the community; menu labeling; and more were suggested. And we can each do our part. Read the entire article.

Teach (and Feed) Your Children Well by Trista Scheuerlein. Flavor. Published 11/17/2008.
Local food and public schools don't have to be strangers. Read the entire article.

Schools seek Va. produce by Kim Barto. Martinsville Bulletin. Published 09/01/2008.
Local school divisions say they want to serve more Virginia-grown produce in their cafeterias through a new state program, but first they need to connect with local farmers who have crops to sell. The Farm to School program, a national program administered here by the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS), is meant to give students access to fresh, nutritious food choices and support local agriculture. Read the entire article.

School meals meet USDA nutrition guidelines by Ashley Andyshak. The Frederick News Post. Published 08/28/2008.
Schools are making an effort to get more fresh produce on to lunch trays, and students will get locally grown apples next month as part of the Farm to School initiative. Read the entire article.

New website to link Virginia farmers and schools by Joel Turner. The Franklin News Post. Published 07/28/2008.
A new website is being designed by the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Service (VDACS) to help match up school system buyers with Virginia farmers. It's the first step in an effort to expand the purchase and use of Virginia food products in the state's school systems. Read the entire article.

School nutrition joins Virginia Department of Agriculture by Cathy Benson. The Roanoke Times. Published 07/09/2008.
In order to get more locally-grown fresh fruit and vegetables into the diets of Virginia's school children, the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) has created a Farm-to-School program and Web site. Read the entire article.

What's good for farmers by Anita Shelburne. Daily Progress. Published 07/09/2008.
Richmond continues to try innovative ideas to support Virginia's farmers. The latest is a program to link farm produce to colleges and universities, public and private grade schools in an effort to provide fresh foods to students and at the same time expand markets for farmers. Plus, organizers hope, the Farm-to-School program will help schoolchildren - many of whom have never been on a farm - to understand where food comes from and the importance of maintaining agriculture. Read the entire article.

Fresh off the Farm: Va. Program Connects Schools to Homegrown Food by Sandhya Somashekhar. Washington Post. Published 06/26/2008.
State officials have launched a program designed to connect small Virginia farmers with schools in hopes of boosting the agricultural economy and encouraging children to eat organic, locally grown food. Read the entire article.

Eat local: State to deliver Va.-grown fruit, veggies to schools by Associated Press. In Rich. Published 06/19/2008.
A new program has been launched by the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to deliver locally grown fruit and vegetables to school cafeterias. Read the entire article.

Farm-to-School program launched by Va. ag dept by Associated Press. Daily Press. Published 06/19/2008.
The department's Farm-to-School program is a matchmaker for school food service directors who are seeking nutritious Virginia-grown farm products for their school menus. Read the entire article.

Farm-to-School Program Launched by Associated Press. NBC29. Published 06/19/2008.
Virginia schools spend more than $6 million annually on fresh produce, and the program is intended to deliver some of those dollars to in-state growers. Read the entire article.