USDA Moves To Improve School Nutrition Needs

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During the recent 2011 School Nutrition Association national convention, Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan announced USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) and Food Nutrition Service (FNS) will conduct a pilot for acquiring fresh fruits and vegetables to build on farm-to-school programs in Florida and Michigan.

The pilot will use commercial distribution models already in place and allow schools to obtain locally grown produce.

Last month, Florida Governor Rick Scott signed the Healthy Schools for Healthy Lives Act (S.B. 1312) into law — an issue high on the state’s Department of Agriculture Administration’s priority list that shifts overall responsibility of the school nutrition program from the Department of Education to the Department of Agriculture. Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam says the shift is a win for the state’s youth and farmers.

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Also during the convention, Merrigan announced the findings of USDA’s first Farm to School report, which summarizes observations of visits conducted last year to 15 school districts across the country that were involved in farm to school related activities in varying capacities. Click here to read the report.

School nutrition improvements are an investment in improving our children’s future and are critical to helping them maintain optimal health, Merrigan said. School meals currently reach nearly 32 million children each school day nationwide, and many children consume as many as half their daily calories at school.

Improving child nutrition is the focal point of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act signed by President Obama in December 2010. The legislation, which reauthorized the Child Nutrition programs, will allow USDA, for the first time in more than 30 years, the chance to make reforms to the school meals programs.

Additionally, USDA’s National Agricultural Library published a new resource titled ‘Farm to School: A Selected and Annotated Bibliography.

Source: USDA news release