NEWS RELEASE
Contact:
Kim Betton
Southeast Regional Office (SERO)
470.370.2395
USDA FNS Southeast Region Recognizes
National Farm to School Month (October) Farm to School benefits everyone
Atlanta, Ga., October 3, 2022 – Each October, the USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) along with schools, communities, and partners across the country, recognize National Farm to School Month. The awareness week is a win-win for kids, schools, farmers, and communities. Farm to School programs encourage school districts to offer seasonally available, regionally produced foods, often sourced directly from local farmers.
National Farm to School Month promotes activities to integrate school gardens, local farm visits, and tasting menus into the classrooms for experiential learning opportunities. Connecting communities to their local farmers, ranchers, and fishers builds stronger ties to the community and a culture of appreciation for those who care for our land.
“Schools districts that offer Farm to School programs notice greater acceptance of healthier options and school meals in general,” said FNS Southeast Regional Administrator Willie C. Taylor. “Farm to School programs can integrate health and nutrition into any subject, supporting President Biden’s goal to reduce diet-related diseases by improving healthy eating habits.”
Farm to School Grants play an important role in expanding USDA’s farm to school efforts across the country and strengthening the school meal programs. Each year, these grants help fund projects that will increase the amount of local foods served through child nutrition programs and help educate children about various food sources and production.
USDA’s FY2022 Farm to School grant program awarded more than $10 million in Farm to School Grants to 123 projects across the country to schools, school districts, state and local agencies, non-profit organizations, Indian tribal organizations, and agricultural producers to plan, train, or implement Farm to School programs. The Farm to School projects will serve more than 3 million children at more than 5,000 schools in 44 states and the District of Columbia.
23 organizations across the Southeast were awarded more than $1.4 million combined to fund Farm to School projects. Descriptions of their grant activities and others across the nation can be found at FY 2022 Farm to School Grants Awardees List | Food and Nutrition Service (usda.gov).
USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. In the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, ensuring access to healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.
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