The "Ah-Ha Moment" of the day came to me this afternoon in Communicating Ag to the Public. There I was, texting my Mom about the current weather conditions in an attempt to at least remain conscious while our wanna-be PhD "instructor" went on and on about public perception of American school lunch nutritional value and new USDA regulations and whatever else she may have mentioned while I was trying to hide my phone from my front row seat. All of a sudden she said something that actually caught my attention. "What if we cut costs of fresh fruits and vegetables by utilizing local growers?" And the light bulb flashed.
After doing a little more research on the subject, I have found an organization that really has the right idea.
FarmToSchool.org The National Farm to School Network's mission best sums up the idea: "The National Farm to School Network envisions a nation in which Farm to School programs are an essential component of strong and just local and regional food systems, ensuring the health of all school children, farms, environment, economy and communities."
The idea is that local farmers benefit from the greater demand of the schools and the students receive a more balanced, nutritional meal at school and, thus, healthier eating habits that they can carry with them for a lifetime. Though the change to fresh produce from pre-packaged and preserved food will undoubtedly cost schools more, if its an expense that will be necessary anyway due to newly mandated USDA regulations, who better to benefit than the local economy? And besides, with all that money to be allocated to "Nutrition Programs" in the next Farm Bill, there had better be some federal funding for programs with this much promise, right? Anyway, its something to work toward.
On To Something,
JanLee
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