Farm-to-School Month

Farm-to-School Month

Rick Worthington
Rick Worthington
October is national Farm-to-School Month.

Policymakers have been building the relationship between both farmers as well as ranchers, and K-12 students.

Erin McKee, farm-to-institution director for the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, says at a time of low commodity prices, schools are proving a good and growing market for farmers and ranchers.

"They're purchasing more and they're purchasing a greater variety of products, so it used to maybe be that they would purchase apples, but now they're using local meats, they are using local cheeses and bread in addition to fruits and vegetables."

McKee says she supports legislation that would bolster the relationship between farmers and schools by helping farmers figure out how to navigate schools' supply chains.

"That extra money is an investment in the local economy. There are studies that show that for every $1 that you're spending on farm-to-school product, you're actually generating an additional $2.16 of local economic activity. So we believe that it's a sound investment to make in our local economy to give a little extra money to those local farmers."

The Society of Nutrition Education and Behavior (SNEB) is hosting a live webinar on Tuesday, October 17th celebrating October as National Farm to School Month, a time to recognize the connections happening all over the country between children and local food.

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