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USDA to Help Schools Buy Local!
Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan wasn’t joking when she said a few weeks ago that she wanted to “play the role of matchmaker during this administration” and link existing USDA programs with local and regional food initiatives. Today, in an exciting moment for school lunch, she announced that the USDA will form Farm-to-School Tactical Teams to help cafeterias procure fresh, local produce. The USDA will also make $50 million available for schools to buy locally grown fruits and vegetables and issue new purchasing guidelines for schools that place attention on locally grown foods.
The initiative is part of the USDA’s Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food campaign, which aims to develop local and regional food systems and spur economic activity in rural communities. The campaign is a huge accomplishment in itself, complete with a public lunch prepared by White House assistant chef Sam Kass and the debut of the White House farmers market. But today’s announcement is particularly exciting and represents a huge step forward in improving American school meals.
I’ve blogged before about the differences between the United States and other countries when it comes to local procurement for school lunch. In the United States, at least up until now, farm-to-school initiatives have expanded thanks to grass-roots efforts, with little to no government support. But in other countries, local food has flourished precisely because of government policies. Italian schools, for example, are required to purchase ingredients that are either organic, traditional or local. Italy’s school lunch legislation sounds a lot like ours in that its goal is to support domestic agriculture while nourishing schoolchildren. The difference is that Italy uses school lunch to support local and sustainable agriculture, while the United States uses school lunch to support large agribusiness. With all the new policies coming out of this USDA, things might be about to change.
First of all, the allocation of $50 million to states to spend on local food for schools is a big deal. That’s as much money as the USDA devoted this year to promote organic agriculture. The Farm-to-School Tactical Teams will visit cafeterias around the country and help schools use that money. Working with farmers, school districts and local authorities, they’ll look for ways to get more local produce into cafeterias. On top of that, the USDA has mentioned that it will partner with the Department of Education and non-profit organizations to “enhance these resources.” Wow. Education and school lunch? This could be the start of bringing food, nutrition and health into the academic curriculum.
The USDA also says it will issue new guidelines for purchasing. Currently, there are all sorts of regulations that make it impossible or expensive for schools to buy locally grown produce. Some of the regulations make it plain inconvenient. For example, under the current rules, locally grown produce cannot be processed. The new guidelines will allow schools to buy local produce that has been precut, making it easier for schools with limited facilities and labor to buy and serve these foods. The USDA says it will make other policies that will allow schools in regions with short growing seasons to have access to local produce year-round. Presumably, these regulations will deal with freezing, preserving or otherwise processing foods from local farms.
There’s no denying that this USDA is changing the course of school food. Who knows, maybe someday our school lunch program will become a critical support for local, organic and sustainable agriculture. Maybe students will start eating some fresh, healthy foods for lunch. Maybe they’ll even get to know their farmer.
September 16th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
[...] blog, School Lunch Talk, which summarizes this new USDA policy here, comments that “Italian schools, for example, are required to purchase ingredients that are [...]
September 24th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
the problem we have here in SF is that there is no facility nor staff to actually COOK locally grown food, mostly because of the pitiful reimbursement by USDA for the school lunch program. That’s where I’d like to see more money.