Kentucky Media Coverage

Wee Farmers take Root at Millcreek Elementary. by University of Kentucky. KyForward. Published 09/07/2011.
Fayette County Farm Bureau picked Millcreek Elementary as its pilot site to expand its school gardening projects. Farm Bureau also helps with the Farm to School network in Fayette County Public Schools and offers a free agriculture literacy conference for teachers each June. Read the entire article.

Farm-to-school programs teach Kentucky kids how to eat healthier. by Jessie Halladay. USA TODAY. Published 07/26/2011.
Taylor is part of a group of students who participated in a farm-to-school program that started last year with help from a state grant that was awarded to three Kentucky counties. Read the entire article.

Farm-to-school programs teach Kentucky kids how to eat healthier by Jessie Halladay. Citizen-times. Published 07/25/2011.
Taylor Hisel has always liked eating the vegetables out of her grandfather's garden, but until she started growing fruits and flowers at Jackson County High School in eastern Kentucky, she never understood how involved the growing process could be. “I just thought you put it in the ground and put water on it,” said 16-year-old Taylor, who will be a junior this fall. Taylor is among a group of students participating in a farm-to-school program that started last year with help from a state grant — funded with federal stimulus money — that gave three Kentucky counties $5,400 each. Read the entire article.

Health Department OK’d for farm, school program by TOM BERRY. Murray Ledger and Times. Published 06/03/2011.
Calloway is one of 10 counties in the state to be approved for $5,400 in grant funding to promote healthy diets among youngsters. County Director of Public Health Linda Cavitt said Thursday the center will partner with the Calloway County Extension Office, Calloway County Schools and local farmers to kick off activities in the school cafeteria, the classroom and the community. The purpose of the program is to educate children about what they eat, what they learn about food and what they learn about good eating habits in the community. Read the entire article.

Farm to School program brings locally grown produce to the lunchroom by Mary Meehan. Lexington-Herald Leader. Published 04/26/2011.
First-graders eat the crunchy, locally grown treat with their fingers; a few discover that a strip of lettuce can make a nice goatee. But, that bit of improvisation aside, the idea of introducing kids not only to healthy food, but healthy food grown close to where they live, is at the heart of the Farm to School program, which offered first-grade students a taste test last week. Read the entire article.

Boyle schools serving lettuce raised by student by MANDY SIMPSON. Advocate-Messenger . Published 02/23/2011.
Boyle County students may not know it, but some of the lettuce in their cafeteria salads now comes from fellow student Tucker Huntsinger’s Future Farmers of America project. Read the entire article.

Moving fresh produce from farm to school by Amanda Sears. Richmond Register. Published 02/23/2011.
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 Read the entire article.

Produce growers, local schools make good partners. Southeast Farm Press. Published 01/31/2011.
The state agriculture department will work to get more nutritious Kentucky Proud foods onto the plates of school children throughout Kentucky in 2011, Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer said recently. Read the entire article.

KDA Project Connects KY Students with Healthy Food and Local Farms by J.L. Graham . Journal Enterprise . Published 01/25/2011.
Students in two Kentucky school districts visited local orchards and took part in activities designed to encourage them to eat healthy Kentucky Proud foods last fall during a pilot project administered by the Kentucky Department of Agriculture. Read the entire article.

Farm experts tout virtues of fresh vegetables. Heartland News. Published 07/21/2010.
Kentucky Department of Agriculture experts are stressing the importance of serving farm-fresh products to kids in schools across the state. That's being done in a "Farm to School Summit" on Wednesday in Lexington. Read the entire article.

Kentucky Proud aiming at schools. Lexington-Herald Leader. Published 07/20/2010.
The Kentucky Department of Agriculture is hosting its first Farm to School Summit on Wednesday as part of an effort to education food service directors about using Kentucky products. Read the entire article.

Kentucky Department of Agriculture employees to speak at Farm to School Summit. Kentucky Ag News. Published 07/20/2010.
Kentucky Department of Agriculture experts are scheduled to share their knowledge at the first-ever Farm to School Summit Wednesday in Lexington.

“Our goal is to bring the freshness and high quality of Kentucky Proud products into our schools,” Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer said. “The Farm to School Program enables Kentucky kids to grow into healthy adults who understand the importance of knowing what’s in their food and where it comes from.” Read the entire article.

Kentucky Agriculture Department program promotes more locally-grown fresh fruits, vegetables and foo. Kentucky Department of Agriculture. Published 06/27/2010.
The numbers are sobering: only 13.2 percent of Kentucky’s youth eat fruits and vegetables five or more times a day, compared with the national average of 21.4 percent; 40.5 percent of Kentucky students drink one or more soft drinks per day, compared with the national average of 33.8 percent. Read the entire article.

Kentucky students take charge by setting up school salad bar by Tim Thornberry. Farm World. Published 06/16/2010.
School lunches have changed in many ways over the last several years with more emphasis being placed on healthier food choices. With that in mind, a group of health sciences students from the Harrodsburg Area Technology Center’s (ATC) Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) chapter initiated a project to give their fellow students at Mercer County Senior High a healthy choice for their lunches.

“Using locally-grown produce in school meals is something our organization encourages since kids get a great-tasting product, the time from harvest to table is shortened and keeping food dollars local helps promote agricultural economic development,” John Cain, state co-chair of Kentucky Action for Healthy Kids, said. “Also, kids are more likely to eat their fruits and veggies if they know where it comes from - something that we hope will cut down on childhood obesity.” He added that the salad bar, by including those locally-grown items, gave the project a farm-to-school element which is very timely as there is a current movement at the state level in Kentucky to expand the Farm-to-School program. Read the entire article.

Eating Locally - Bath County Schools buy produce from local farmers by Madelynn Coldiron. Kentucky School Advocate - The monthly newsletter of the Kentucky School Boards Association. Published 10/01/2007.
Bath County schools are helping local farmers improve their bottom line while the farmers are making sure students get quality veggies and fruits in their cafeterias. Read the entire article.

Schools get fresh vegetables via defense department idea. Lexington Herald-Leader. Published 10/22/2002.
A program that has connected Kentucky produce growers with school lunchrooms has put fresh vegetables on the table for schoolchildren this fall. The Farm to School Initiative started off small this year in Kentucky, but it could eventually feed nearly 700,000 pupils in almost 1,300 schools. Doris Pruitt, food service director for Warren County Public Schools in Bowling Green, said she was pleased with the program's first year. Read the entire article.