Meredith Ashton
CYOA Project
September 20th, 2016
Veggies Over
Vending Machines
Traditional cafeteria lunches are
the stuff of childhood legend—plastic apples dyed red with chemicals, sausage links tinged green in the center, and
limp iceberg lettuce masquerading as a “healthy” side. After decades of
cafeteria food bearing the label of “barely edible,” Michelle Obama helped revolutionize the Federal School Lunch program with the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids
Act of 2010. One major, and lesser known, component of the bill is the Farms to
School Program that provides grants and guidance for connecting local farms
with public school cafeterias. By supplying locally-grown food and providing
education about where their food is grown, students are empowered to make
healthy dietary choices early on in their lives. This is essential in combating
the issues of childhood obesity and financial food insecurity for kids. Eating
local additionally supports vibrant, small-scale economies and minimizes our
environmental footprint by reducing the number of miles food travels from farm
to fork.
The Farms to School Program looks
different in every location, as the availability of produce is dictated by
place. Although they are not a part of the federal program, Woodward Elementary
School in our very own Kalamazoo exemplifies the farms to school movement. Here
the elementary schoolers dig in the dirt of their own community garden,
nibbling on various veggies and learning about the importance of growing and
preparing healthy foods. I hope you enjoy this short video clip about the USDA's Farms to Schools program that's taking root across the country!
Love this! This is obviously promotional material and definitely quite feel good, so I'm curious about real impact in context. What percentage of schools are using this program and what percentage of the food is actually coming from farms. How big of a change is it, really? Thanks for bringing this to us, Meredith. I look forward to our discussion in class!
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