Background

Lifelong learning requires lifelong nutrition. Farm to School and Early Care initiatives put fresh, healthy, locally grown food in front of kids. Fresh local food is more likely to be eaten, large institutional purchases are a boon to farmers, and money spent locally is a boost to the local economy.

Since 2012, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) has worked to provide the governor and state agencies tools to increase Farm to School purchasing in Minnesota, including supporting the establishment of a Farm to School kitchen equipment grant program in the Department of Agriculture (MDA). But there is so much more to do.

Minnesota is in the minority of states that do not have official statewide policy supporting Farm to School and Early Care.

Since the fall of 2014, a broad group of Minnesota stakeholders have been discussing what policy is needed to advance and expand Farm to School throughout the state. This group includes organizations and state agencies representing agriculture, small business, public health and nutrition, academic research, education, healthy food access, anti-hunger, rural development and more. We agreed on three core priorities:

  1. Maintain Farm to School success through the equipment grant within the Agricultural Growth, Research and Innovation (AGRI) Program at MDA.
  2. Reimburse sponsors of USDA child nutrition programs an average of five cents per meal for the purchase of Minnesota-grown unprocessed or minimally processed food.
  3. Fund six educators and four specialists to provide research-based education and technical assistance to Minnesota’s farmers interested in selling their products to Minnesota schools, focusing on beginning, specialty crop and small to mid-sized producers.


Unfortunately, the group lacked the funding to successfully advocate for a bill in the legislature. At the end of 2016, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation provided IATP with a 2-year grant to lead this effort. Here is what happened:

 

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