October 14, 2014 | Volume 3, Issue 22
Healthy Habits Take Root
Going Local!
The next installment of our new five-part video series, Healthy Habits Take Root: How School Districts Across the
Country are Bringing the Farm to School, is a video highlighting
how districts are buying local products. As you know, from the teaser,
districts across the country are buying local products that span the meal tray.
In this video, you’ll hear from farm to school practitioners that are bringing
local into the lunchroom from diverse sources and of course, buying locally and
correctly!
Featured Resources
New Fact Sheet: Local Meat in Schools
Chicken legs in
California, lobster rolls in Maine, sloppy Joes in Wisconsin, and wild salmon
in Alaska…local meats, poultry, and seafood are a staple on school lunch trays
across the country. According to the USDA Farm to School Census, 48 percent of school
districts in Vermont serve local meat or poultry, 53 percent of school
districts in Alaska serve local seafood, and all but three states in the U.S.
report school districts serving local meats. Communities across the nation are
proving that getting local meat in school cafeterias is not only possible, but
practical and feasible as well. Check out this new fact sheet for examples, tips, and
information for putting local meat on school menus!
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Interested in Buying Local? Visit the Procuring Local Foods Webpage
This year, the farm to school team at USDA has been busy
thinking about new ways to make buying local foods easier for schools and
working on lots of resources that help explain the process. Now, all of
these new materials have been compiled into one central place on the Food and
Nutrition Service website. Highlighted on the new webpage
are:
-
Procuring
Local Foods for Child Nutrition Programs Guide covers
procurement basics, defining local, where to find local products, and the
variety of ways schools can purchase locally in accordance with
regulations. Throughout the guide, examples illustrate the many mechanisms
available for school districts to procure local food.
- A
series of a dozen recorded webinars from the Finding, Buying, and
Serving Local Foods series that we held earlier this year to
showcase the variety of ways school districts can purchase local foods.
The series started with an introduction to basic procurement
principles, and then walked participants through numerous strategies and
tactics for buying local foods.
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Our
growing set of fact
sheets, which provide readers with a quick reference
on procurement topics ranging from using the DoD
Fresh Program to purchase local foods to opportunities
for farmers to sell to schools.
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Policy
memos and regulations that provide background and answers to some of
the most commonly asked questions about local procurement.
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Bits from Blogs
Growing Your Farm to School Program Has Never Been Easier
Audrey Rowe, USDA Food and Nutrition Service Administrator
Healthy habits are taking root in our nation’s schools. Thanks to an important commitment made possible by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, more of our nation’s kids are being exposed to lessons about healthy eating and learning where their food comes from. Established as part of that legislation, USDA’s Farm to School Program plays a vital role in improving health outcomes for our schoolchildren.
This October, during National Farm to School Month, it’s important to acknowledge farm to school programs’ contributions to fostering a healthier next generation. These programs support the work of parents, teachers, school nutrition professionals, and communities to make sure the healthy choice is the easy choice for America’s children...
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