Governor Andrew M. Cuomo recently announced that six Farm to School programs across New York State have been awarded funding to help increase the use of healthy, locally grown foods on school menus. The programs will serve students Pre-K-12 and operate in both school districts and through several educational partners, including: The Buffalo City School District; Cooperative Extension Association State of New York Schoharie and Otsego Counties; Rensselaer County School District; Saranac Lake Central School District; Seneca County Cornell Cooperative Extension; and Broome-Delaware-Tioga Board of Cooperative Educational Services.
“Learning healthy eating habits now will serve our children for their entire lives,” Governor Cuomo said. “The Farm to School initiative encourages thoughtfulness about what we eat and leads to better choices when it comes to nutrition. This program simultaneously educates our youth, promotes locally grown foods, and strengthens the connection between farms and schools across the State.”
The Farm to School program is aimed at developing and strengthening connections between farms and schools to help grow the agricultural economy and increase the amount and variety of specialty crops procured by schools for healthier meal options. Funding from the Farm to School program will be used to train school staff in food preparation and procurement, conduct outreach to producers, educate students, and purchase equipment to support food transport, storage and preparation.
New York State produces a wide range of specialty crops, such as fruits and vegetables, dried fruits, herbs and spices, which rank high nationally in terms of production and economic value.
An additional goal of the program is an educational component to increase student knowledge of, and preference for, locally produced specialty crops.
Projects awarded locally, include: Broome-Delaware-Tioga Board of Cooperative Educational Services: Southern Tier Farm to School Project, $74,970.
Funds will be used to employ a Farm to School Coordinator and a Farm to School Consultant to train food staff, purchase specialized equipment to transport specialty crops and to recruit farms, food hubs and processers within a six-county region.
The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, which administers the program, received 20 proposals for the Farm to School program. Projects were awarded based on a scoring criteria aligned with program objectives.
This Farm to School grant program was first announced as a result of Governor Cuomo’s Capital for a Day in Rochester. The commissioners from the State Departments of Agriculture and Markets, Health and the Office of General Services joined leaders from the New York Apple Association, Farm Fresh First, Empire Potato Growers and New York State Vegetable Growers Association, Brockport School District and the New York City School Support Services, to discuss increasing the procurement of New York State food products in New York’s more than 700 schools. The discussion centered on the growers’ delivery system and the school districts’ needs and purchasing process, and how to make it easier to bring the two together.
Mark Bordeau, Senior Food Service Director at Broome-Tioga BOCES said, “Broome-Tioga BOCES and all of our partners including Food and Health Network, Food Bank of the Southern Tier, and Cornell Cooperative Extension are enthusiastic about the award of this grant, to explore and expand our efforts of procuring New York State agricultural products for our students.”
