Going Local - USDA Farm to School E-letter

USDA Farm to School E-Letter

October 14, 2014 | Volume 3, Issue 22



Healthy Habits Take Root

Going Local!

(image) Click here to watch the "Going Local" video

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!

 

(image) local meat fact sheet


Interested in Buying Local? Visit the Procuring Local Foods Webpage

(image) local procurement resources

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. 
  • Our growing set of fact sheetswhich 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
  • Policy memos and regulations that provide background and answers to some of the most commonly asked questions about local procurement. 

(image) Farm to School Toolkit

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...