Reports from the Field - March


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As the farm to school movement grows, this newsletter highlights pivotal policies, news, publications, and events. Please contact us if you have any comments or suggestions. Please make note of the upcoming deadlines below.

In This Issue

Contests and Conference

Student Cooking Contest Spotlights Healthy School Meals

Healthy Schools Campaign and the National Farm to School Network are hosting the Cooking up Change National Healthy Cooking Contest, which challenges teams of high school and college students to create a healthful and delicious school meal that meets nutrition standards based on the Institute of Medicine’s latest recommendations, incorporates a local food item, draws from ingredients commonly available to food service, and can be easily prepared in a school kitchen. Six teams of finalists, chosen from a national pool of applicants, will prepare their recipes for a prestigious panel of judges in Detroit at Taking Root, the 5th National Farm to Cafeteria conference. Winners will be announced at the conference, and the teams’ delicious creations will be sampled by conference participants. This contest is generously supported by Applegate Farms and Chartwells-Thompson Hospitality.

To learn more, enter the contest or help spread the word, visit www.cookingupchange.org/welcome.php

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Real Food Is…Video Contest

Students are challenged to define what real food means to them by creating a short video that completes the phrase "Real Food is..." Created by the National Farm to School Network and sponsored by the Lunch Box, this contest is open to K-12 and college students and runs until March 29, 2010. The winners will receive $1,000 and an all expenses paid trip to the conference to show their videos at the opening plenary.

More info is available at video.farmtoschool.org.
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Taking Root: National Farm to Cafeteria Conference

If you can only go to one conference this year, come to Detroit, May 17-19 for TAKING ROOT, the 5th National Farm to Cafeteria Conference. How many conferences start with kids cooking the future of school lunch and end with a community service project of building a school garden? The conference has something to offer everyone, from field trips and short courses to workshops, a sampling of local foods and perhaps best of all…the chance to connect with others. Register now! Early registration ends March 26, 2010! Poster sessions are still being accepted!

20 seconds of fame! For the first time, we are trying a new method of showcasing farm to cafeteria programs across the country. Learn more here.

More info is available at farmtocafeteriaconference.org.

Farm to School on the Hill

"Farm to school programs exemplify the best use of federal school lunch dollars. " Rep. Rush Holt (NJ)

HOUSE: H.R. 4710

On February 26, 2010, Rep. Rush Holt (NJ-12) introduced H.R. 4710: The Farm to School Improvements Act of 2010, a bill requesting $50 million (over five years) in MANDATORY funding for farm to school programs.

The Farm to School Improvements Act (H.R. 4710) would establish a competitive grant and technical assistance program to increase the use of local foods from small and medium sized farms in schools. The legislation would provide $10 million in mandatory funding each year for the duration of the program and require that grant recipients provide a local match to ensure serious commitment to the project.

This competitive grant program is designed to:

  • Improve the nutritional health and well being of children;
  • Support experiential nutrition education activities;
  • Procure local foods from small and medium-sized farms;
  • Increase farm income by facilitating farmers' access to institutional markets including schools; and
  • Develop a sustained commitment to farm to school programs in the community.

Click here to watch a video of Holt discussing the legislation and here for a fact sheet on the bill and how to get involved.
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SENATE: S. 3123

The Growing Farm to School Programs Act, introduced Tuesday, March 16, by U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), would help connect school food service providers with producers in their areas by providing limited federal grants and technical assistance for school districts and small and medium sized farms to develop new Farm to School programs.

Leahy, the most senior member of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, And Forestry of either party, introduced the bill with 13 cosponsors, including Specter and Sens. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Robert Casey (D-Pa.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), and Tom Udall (D-N.M.).

We applaud Holt and Leahy in their leadership in cultivating Farm to School programs across the country. Learn how you can get involved here.

· Farm to School in the House

· Farm to School Talking Points

· FAQ About the Farm to School Policy Ask

· $50 Million Mandatory for Farm to School

· Nourishing the Nation One Tray at a Time

First Lady Praises Programs

First Lady Praises Farm to School Programs in New York and Idaho--first hand account by Marion Kalb, co-Director of the National Farm to School Network

Participants in the School Nutrition Association’s Legislative Action Conference were treated to lunch with the First Lady in Washington, D.C. on March 1st. Addressing close to 1,000 Food Service and Child Nutrition Directors, Mrs. Obama spoke about the issues of children’s health and obesity, and then noted positive ways to address them and began by mentioning successful farm to school programs in Gooding, Idaho and Binghamtown, New York. Both of these districts have also received the Gold of Distinction Award in USDA’s Healthier US School Challenge Program.

The overall goal of the Let’s Move initiative is to solve the obesity epidemic in a generation. The First Lady stressed the need for collaborative efforts with schools, community partners, and threw down the gauntlet to the private sector to “step up” and deliver healthier foods. Together, everyone needs to “build well for the future” to encourage healthy eating for the rest of our lives. Learn more in this week's Newsweek, which mentions a need for a "stronger link between local farmers and cafeterias."

 

Farm to School on the Road

USDA Farm to School Efforts

The USDA is truly getting to Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food by learning more about and promoting Farm to School programs.

The USDA Farm to School Team recently hosted a webinar on March 10th, which 1,200 registered for, on their mission and goals for 2010 to increase opportunities for local foods in schools meals. Check back here for the recording.

In town to speak at the NOFA-VT winter conference on February 13, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack took time to meet with child hunger advocates including Dana Hudson of Vermont FEED, the Northeast Regional Lead for the National Farm to School Network. Along with Senator Leahy, Senator Sanders, and Rep. Welch, Vilsack listened for an hour to the challenges and opportunities in Vermont for improving nutrition programs for children.

Farm to School was an important partner in this discussion. Based on a recent CDC research report, Vermont is the lead state in consumption of fruits and vegetables. Also, the National Farm to School Network has tracked that fruit and vegetable consumption is up by one serving on average in schools with Farm to School programs. So it is not much of a leap to credit Vermont’s outstanding position of increased consumption with the fact that half of the schools in the state have Farm to School programs in some form.

USDA Deputy Secretary Merrigan has been taking our farm to school videos on the road as an example of the incredible advocacy work happening around Child Nutrition Reauthorization. This, as well as the many national conversations that Vilsack and Merrigan are leading, are improving awareness and understanding of the good work that Farm to School programs are doing all over the country.

A Taste of Winter News

It Takes a Rocket Scientist?

by Debra Eschmeyer. Huffington Post.

U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (NJ-12), an actual rocket scientist and five-time Jeopardy winner, has introduced legislation that would create a Farm to School grant program to fight childhood obesity and support local farmers. Read the entire article.

Farm to School Program Changes Kids' Views on Food

By Lisa Rathke. ABC News.

About 40 states have farm to school programs, but Vermont is a leader in incorporating all three missions into its programs. "Vermont has really taken it on in quite the most holistic way and not just in a couple of school districts but statewide," said Anupama Joshi, director of the Farm to School program, based at the Center for Food and Justice at Occidental College in Los Angeles. Read the entire article.

Open Letter to First Lady Obama

Chef Bryan C. Andregg • Lyndonville Vermont

I suggest another round of Iron Chef White House. This time Bobby and Mario should go head to head with school service directors and chefs, with the mystery ingredients coming straight from the USDA commodity list!As one of my mentors is fond of saying, “It isn’t hard cooking with the good stuff.” Let’s see if the celebrity chefs can match the inventiveness that is required of the people that feed our children every day. Read the entire article.

 

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