NY Farm-to-School program to use more coordinators, award schools
The New York Department of Agriculture is starting two new initiatives to strengthen its Farm-to-School program, which provides new markets for New York farmers and improves access to locally grown and produced food in schools.
Working with the department, Cornell Cooperative Extension will establish a Farm-to-School coordinator program to increase local agricultural product procurement in schools on Long Island, in the Hudson Valley, Catskills and the North Country, according to a news release.
Also, the state will give performance-based awards to schools that successfully participated in the 30% initiative during the 2019-2020 school year.
"This past year has certainly been a challenging one for our Farm-to-School programs, with many schools closed, farmers struggling with loss of markets, and the food supply chain experiencing many other disruptions due to the pandemic," agriculture commissioner Richard Ball said in the release.
Besides providing school children access to healthy, nutritious food, the program also educates them on local food systems and agriculture, education commissioner Betty A. Rosa said in the release.
“The last year has underscored the food access disparities that exist in communities across the state," Rosa said, and "the Farm-to-School program is a vital resource that can improve equity while also benefiting local producers.”
For the coordinator program, CCE Harvest NY, which has been leading the Farm-to-School efforts in Western New York, is establishing four regional farm-to-school coordinators in areas that are currently not well served by existing programs. These coordinators will facilitate connections between food supply chain partners, campuses, and the communities to boost program success. CCE will create a dedicated program director who will help design and guide existing farm-to-school efforts across the state, ensuring consistency with statewide program goals while meeting regional needs and opportunities.
New York’s 30% Lunch Initiative increases the reimbursement schools receive for lunches from 5.9 cents per meal to 25 cents per meal for any district that purchases at least 30 percent ingredients for their school lunch program from New York farms.
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted school feeding programs, spurring the USDA to extend its Summer Food Service Program. Because this impacted New York’s ability to reimburse these schools under the 30% initiative, the department is providing 55 schools with performance-based awards to offset the financial and operational burdens and to support continued participation in the program.
Also, the state's education and agriculture departments issued guidance Oct. 23 to assist SFAs in implementing the 30% initiative during the pandemic and assure for program continuity. The Guidance provides a means for SFAs to continue to count local purchases in order to qualify for 30% NYS Lunch reimbursement in the subsequent year. Together, with the new initiatives described above, this three-pronged approach strengthens New York’s Farm-to-School program and allows program continuity as the state continues to navigate the changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The guidance is available online.
New York State’s Farm-to-School Program was created to connect schools with local farms and food producers to strengthen local agriculture, improve student health and promote regional food systems awareness. It is key to the governor's No Student Goes Hungry initiative, first introduced in 2018.
