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Oregon observes National School Lunch Week
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10/6/2010
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Article Content Specialty crop grant boosts farm to school programs
Now more than ever, farm to school and school garden programs are needed to help provide healthy, nutritious, and locally-grown foods to children. That's one key message to be delivered in Oregon during National School Lunch Week October 11-15. Meanwhile, the state can enhance its reputation as a national leader in such programs partly through innovative efforts like the one being federally funded by a Specialty Crop Block Grant via the Oregon Department of Agriculture.
"Oregon's farm to school programs and school gardens are positive in so many ways," says ODA Director Katy Coba. "They provide a stable and growing market for our agricultural producers while educating our youth on the critical importance of agriculture. At the same time, kids are taught how to make wise and healthy choices about what they eat."
Two Oregon school districts- one urban and one rural- are on the receiving end of the $45,000 specialty crop grant. Pilot programs are being established in the Salem-Keizer School District in Marion County and the North Powder School District in Baker County to integrate the school cafeteria with the classroom and community through such activities as school gardens and field trips to farms. The fact that one of the districts is in a rural setting shows the need for a statewide program to reach a generation of students unfamiliar with where there food comes from. Funds will be used to hire coordinators who will focus on helping teachers and after school programs be successful.
"The end result of the grant is to articulate a set of practices that show how integrated farm to school programs actually work," says Michelle Markesteyn Ratcliffe, ODA's Farm to School Program Manager. "We hope to connect the classroom, the cafeteria, and the community to support not only kids' academic achievement, but also their lifelong eating behaviors. We are really starting to address issues like childhood obesity with these programs while ensuring present and future market opportunities for our specialty crop industry."
School gardens in these districts will produce food. Some of it will be used in the cafeteria, some will go to food banks, some will go into processing. In each case, kids will have the experience of planting, tending, harvesting, and consuming the food they grow.
Oregon's childhood obesity rate is lower than the national average, but still a major concern. With the amount of nutritious food available from local producers and processors, kids should be able to have much better options for healthy eating. Farm to school programs, school gardens, and many other efforts to introduce an improved lifestyle through the food grown in Oregon is a key statewide strategy involving ODA, the Oregon Department of Education, and many other local, regional, and state partners.
"In the past four years, the effort has grown from a handful of schools procuring local food to more than 70 school districts across the state expressing interest in buying more local product," says Ratcliffe. " That pencils out to almost half of the kids in Oregon being served locally produced foods. Add another 200 or so school gardens, and we have a great deal of momentum to move forward."
Because of its 11 percent unemployment rate and other factors, Oregon remains one of the highest ranked states in the nation in terms of hunger. More than half of Oregon school children are eligible for free or reduced lunch. Every school year, kids in Oregon consume nearly 20,000 tons of fruits and vegetables. All these numbers and statistics create a great opportunity for farm to school and school garden programs to gain a larger spot on the lunch tray for children.
"Schools serve more fruits and vegetables than what kids normally bring with them in a sack lunch," says Ratcliffe. "When you couple that with agricultural or food experiences like farm visits, growing food in school gardens, or learning to cook, that changes how kids think and what they know about food. They are then more likely to eat healthy."
Similar programs are now finding their way into pre-schools, childcare centers, and colleges. Oregon hasn't focused solely on fresh fruits and vegetables, but has partnered with food processors to extend the harvest.
"Processors are developing center-of-the-plate meal items with locally grown food," says Ratcliffe. "The impact on Oregon's agricultural production is not insignificant. As an example, every time one large school district serves Truitt Brothers' chili, that translates into 2.3 acres of Willamette Valley farmland planted in beans. And that's just one school district procuring one menu item from one processor."
The strength of Oregon's efforts is reflected in its unique partnerships and commitments. Oregon is the first state in the country to have a farm to school position in both the state departments of agriculture and education. In addition to the countless community groups and coalitions supporting localized efforts across Oregon, the movement is bolstered by extensive public-private partnerships through the Oregon Farm to School and School Garden Network. One non-profit organization in Oregon, Ecotrust, also acts as the western lead for the National Farm to School Network.
Ratcliffe and others share an optimism about farm to school and school garden programs in Oregon.
"In the next three years, I believe we could have 90 percent of the kids in the state not only eating great Oregon agricultural products served in the cafeteria, but also learning about those products through school gardens, field trips, and programs that bring farmers and ranchers right into the classroom."
Oregon agriculture is poised to be at the front of the school lunch line as farm to school efforts and school gardens create a winning strategy for kids, the economy, and the environment.
For more information, contact Michelle Markesteyn Ratcliffe at (503) 872-6600.
Story of the Week pdf version
http://oregon.gov/ODA/docs/pdf/news/101006school.pdf
Audio Story of the Week
http://oregon.gov/ODA/news/101006school_audio.shtml
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