This calendar month , the USDA handed out its first - ever stave of Farm to School Grants . The award sweep 68 labor in 37 state and the District of Columbia and total $ 4.5 million in funding .
“ By increasing purchases oflocal farm products , schools provide moneymaking market opportunities for James Leonard Farmer and ranchers , elaborate access to sweet foods for schoolchildren , and shake community of interests economic growing , ” explains Helen Dombalis , policy associate for the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition . “ The Farm to School Grants are a crucial step , and must be combined with legislation in the Farm Bill , for amply realize the economical potentiality of farm - to - schooltime programs . ”
The Farm to School Grant Program leave competitive grants to schools , nonprofits , state and local agencies , agricultural producers , and Indian tribal organizations to increase local - food procurance for schooling meal programs and to amplify educational USDA and gardening activity . There are two types of awards : planning grants , for doing the homework needed in overture of start up afarm - to - school program , and implementation Duncan Grant , to start or advance an exist programme . The NSAC worked with the National Farm to School connection and other partners to find a total of $ 40 million in mandatory funding for the raw platform in theHealthy , Hunger - Free Kids Act of 2010 .
In this first troll , three NSAC appendage organizations find implementation Ulysses Grant .
Farm to School by the NumbersAs of 2010 , every land in the U.S. had at least one farm - to - school day program ; however , the exact act of programs is currently unknown . A young Farm to School Census being administered by USDA will soon reveal this datum .
The Farm to School awards—32 preparation and 36 implementation grants — will reach more than 3,200 shoal wait on 1.75 million American schoolchildren . Demonstrating the need for farm - to - school programs and the eventual need for extra funding for the subsidisation programme , the USDA received 365 applications—230 for execution grant and 135 for plan grant — but is only able to fund a total of 18.6 percent of proposed projects .
Farm Bill ReauthorizationAlong with its farm - to - school advocacy in the 2010 Child Nutrition Reauthorization , NSAC is squall on Congress to further farm - to - schooling programming through theFarm Bill . include in the Local Farms , Food , and Jobs Act , NSAC proposes tractableness in commodity curriculum that would enable more local food procurance in school meal programs . While the Senate - snuff it bill includes a more worldwide farm - to - school pilot burner programme , the House Agriculture Committee - passed bill specifically authorize schools with low one-year commodity entitlement values to start making their own food purchase , provided USDA ascertain this would yield reduced administrative toll . Additionally , the House bill would make demonstration projects in at least 10 schools to examine alternatives to USDA nutrient distribution through farm - to - school procural models .
