Portland Public Schools

Portland Public Schools is actively working towards institutionalizing farm to school on a district-wide level. Current initiatives are described below: 

1. A Harvest of the Month program was implemented in the 2006-07 school year. The program delivered farm direct fruits and vegetables to all elementary and K-8 schools at least once a month from February to June. The district plans to continue the project in the 2007-08 school year, and will provide additional informational and promotional materials.  
   
   
2. “Local Lunches”: The district is connecting producers and processors to develop products such as breads and pastas that are grown and produced regionally. 
   
   
3. The Portland School District has gathered baseline data on local procurement, and has calculated the food miles for all their non-commodity foods.  
   
   
4. The district has engaged in a visioning process to work towards making healthy, nutritious foods readily available to all students, with significant goals such as 100% of menu items prepared regionally; 50% of menu items sourced locally; hormone, antibiotic and nitrate free meats to the extent possible; dairy products that are free of recombinant bovine growth hormone; fish products from sustainable sources; and fruits and vegetables that are sustainably or organically grown.  
   
   

Contact

Michelle M. Ratcliffe
Phone: 503- 476-6080
mratcliffe@ecotrust.org