Maryland Partners
Maryland spends $18 million dollars annually on local products in school meal. Maryland ranks 9th in the nation with the average school district spending 23 percent of their food budget on local products, according to the latest USDA Farm to School Census. The Jane Lawton Farm to School Program, so named in honor of the late Maryland House of Delegates member Jane Lawton was signed into in May 2008. The Maryland Department of Agriculture and the Maryland State Dept. of Education are partners in the program which promotes the sale of nutritious locally grown farm products to Maryland schools; connects school systems and farmers; and established Maryland Homegrown School Lunch Week to promote Maryland agriculture through school meal and classroom programs and interaction between students and local farmers.