USDA report touts success of Farm to School Grant Program; helped 12,300 schools from 2013-15

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Farm to School Grant Program, funded through the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, helped 6.9 million students in 12,300 schools during fiscal years 2013 to 2015, states a USDA report released on Friday. A total of $15.1 million in grants was given to schools in 49 states and Washington, D.C., and 78 percent of awards went to support schools of districts with free or reduced meals eligibility rates above 50 percent. Grants are used to buy local foods, train staff, purchase equipment, provide hands-on education for students, develop community partnerships and complete project evaluations.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement: "Farm to school partnerships have a proven track record of encouraging kids to eat more healthy foods and creating new market opportunities for the farmers that grow them. Congress should act quickly to reauthorize the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act to build on the success of farm to school and the healthier school meals and continue our momentum towards a healthier next generation of Americans."

Overall, "more than 40,300 schools have farm to school programs that impact 23.5 million children," states a USDA press release. "According to USDA's first-ever Farm to School Census, released in 2014, school districts participating in farm to school programs purchased and served over $385 million in local food in school year 2011-2012, with more than half of participating schools planning to increase their purchases of local food in the future." (Read more) (USDA map)

More than one-third of U.S. public school districts serve locally produced foods, USDA says

More than one-third of U.S. public school districts serve locally produced food, according to a survey by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Of the 9,887 school districts that responded to the survey, 36 percent said they serve local foods, and 9 percent said they plan to serve local foods in the future.

USDA, which created the Farm to School program in 2010 to encourage school districts to serve local food, found that more than 80 percent of districts in Rhode Island, Maryland, Delaware, Vermont, Hawaii and Maine serve local foods, according to survey respondents. In 10 states—Nevada, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Illinois, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama—20 percent or fewer respondents said they served local foods.

The most common local foods served are fruits and vegetables, with more than 90 percent of schools saying they serve those foods. The majority of local foods come from distributors, but many districts also receive food directly from producers, food processors and manufacturers. (Read more) (USDA map)

Hands-on programs allow rural students to raise livestock that will end up in the schools' cafeterias

Budget cuts and declining student populations are leading some rural school districts to implement hands-on agriculture classes, where student-raised livestock and student-grown produce eventually turn up in the school cafeteria, Steven Yaccino reports for The New York Times. "A high school in Montague, Mich., has student-raised chicken on its menu. Another, in Willits, Calif., serves campus-bred pork. Pupils in other districts throughout the Midwest are growing crops or garden produce for a letter grade before eating the fruits of their labor when the lunch bell rings." (NYT photo by Maddie McGarvey: Near Hagerstown, Ind., Nettle Creek School Corp. Supt. William Doering visits a hands-on agriculture program)

Stefonie Sebastian, education specialist at Future Farmers of America, told Yaccino, “As budgets keep getting cut, we keep looking to more creative ways. Agriculture programs used to be on the chopping block. Now we’re seeing it as a way to get things done at the school.”

In the Nettle Creek school district in Hagerstown, Ind., which has lost about 66 of its 1,000 students since 2010, and was forced to cut $350,000 from its budget, a hands-on agriculture program is paying off big time, Yaccino writes. The school's cattle program is "expected to save at least $2,000 in annual cafeteria costs and expand vocational training," and schools will have more meat than they can consume. That means schools can sell the excess meat to purchase more livestock.

"In lieu of a classroom, students built a fence around 10 acres of school land," Yaccino writes. "The district is still looking to hire a new teacher to run the cattle course, which will be open to sophomores, juniors and seniors. If all goes as planned, the first herd of six Angus cross and one Hereford—bought with donations from local banks and members of the community—will be slaughtered this fall with the help of a butcher who volunteered to stock school freezers." (Read more)

W. Va. students growing food for school cafeteria

Nine-year-olds Isaac Seabolt and Emily Glandon
collect onions and carrots at George Washington
Elementary in Eleanor. (Kenny Kemp/Gazette)

Around the country it is becoming more common for students of all ages to learn about agriculture by using greenhouses, allowing them to grow food that will be served in their own cafeterias. Students at George Washington Elementary School in Eleanor, W.Va., between Charleston and Huntington, have found a unique way to learn about foods by using a "high tunnel, a type of temporary greenhouse made of polyethylene that holds heat from the sun," reports Lydia Nuzum for The Charleston Gazette.

The project is the first of its kind in the county, according to Chuck Talbot, the agriculture and natural resources extension agent for Putnam County, who "hopes the hands-on experience will spark a greater interest in learning and health with the children," reports Nuzum.

The program, through a grant by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is one of several programs the school is using to stimulate the children through interactive learning. Principal Mary Beth Myers told Nuzum, "It's not sitting still and doing something out of a book. It is active learning. The students are always excited, and they're very engaged." (Read more)

USDA launches online tool to connect farmers and ranchers with nearby consumers

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has unveiled its newest tool to promote local food systems, an online instrument that lets viewers see what local and regional food projects are under way in their area and read case studies, watch videos and see pictures from the field.

The "Food Compass" is the latest effort in the "Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food" project, meant to expand the number of small, local farmers and ranchers who serve their communities. An interactive map lets viewers see USDA-supported projects related to local food systems in place across the country. That includes information about access to local meals, careers in agriculture and access to healthy food.

The written section includes stories about local food system projects, whether that pertains to farm-to-school, farm-to-hospital and farm-to-institution programs; local meat processing; hoophouses; urban farms; organic farms; and school gardens. Readers can see how people are putting their USDA funds to work to connect to their communities.

The compass notes that buying and selling food at the local, rather than mass consumer, level is a growing trend. In 2011, more than 85 percent of customers asked by the National Grocers Association said they chose to shop at a grocery store based in part on whether it carries food grown from local producers. More than 2,000 schools across the country have farm-to-school programs, and more than 7,000 American cities and towns have farmers' markets. The growing trend is a positive thing since it is "spurring job growth, keeping more farmers on the land and more wealth in rural communities," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. To view the compass, click here.