The growing farm to school food movement

FOOD | Julianne Glatz

It’s in all 50 states. In thousands of school districts. It’s growing by leaps and bounds. And now it’s been endorsed and getting support from the federal government and some state and local governments.

Schoolchildren are eating fresh food from local farms for school lunches and breakfasts.

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack explained: “The vision is, he [President Obama] wants more nutritious food in schools. In a perfect world, everything that was sold, everything that was purchased and consumed, would be local, so the economy would receive the benefit of that. One thing we can do is work on strategies to make that happen. It can be a grant program, loan programs, it can be technical assistance.”

There’s been lots of talk lately about the need for children to eat more healthy food and less junk food or highly processed food, with their empty calories and often dubious ingredients. And with good reason. In the last 10 years alone, obesity rates among young children have doubled and have tripled in adolescents. One of every three children born in 2000 will become a diabetic. Statistics are even worse for African- American or Hispanic kids – half of them can expect to develop diabetes. Unless something changes – and changes soon – American children today will almost certainly have a shorter life expectancy than their parents – the first time that’s happened in more than 200 years.

Even if you’re aware of and concerned about child nutrition and eating habits, you may wonder why having them eat local healthy food should be a part of the picture. After all, lots – in fact, virtually all – the fresh produce in groceries comes from far away.

One of the things most frequently heard when talking about the Farm to School move ment (often referred to as F2S) is that it’s a big win-win. Many farmers struggle to make a living from their land. The farmer’s share of every American food dollar has dropped from 41 cents in 1950 to just 19 cents today. Three hundred and thirty farmers leave their farms each week; the average age of those still farming is 57. America now has more prisoners than farmers.

School food programs are estimated to spend more than $10 billion a year – a potentially lucrative market for family farmers. If they could sell to local schools, even at a price that competes favorably with what schools spend on processed foods, local farmers could potentially keep a larger share of that food dollar.

Eating food from local family farms is good for the environment and even has the oft-touted advantage of reducing our dependence on foreign oil. Industrial agriculture farming methods use vast amounts of fossil fuel. So does distributing food. In America, food items typically travel 1,500 to 2,400 miles from farm to plate. Head lettuce from California takes 36 times more fuel energy to get to New York than the caloric energy it provides.

But what about the children? According to a report produced by a trio of organizations, National Farm to School Network, Community Food Security Coalition, and School Food Focus, kids benefit in a variety of ways when their school meals include local food:

“In addition to supplying nourishing, locally grown food in the cafeteria or classrooms, farm to school programs often also offer nutrition and agriculture education through taste tests, school gardens, compost-ing programs and farm tours. Such experiences help children understand where their food comes from and how their food choices affect their bodies, the environment, and their communities at large.”