In 2019, the National Farm to School Network (NFSN), the Scotts-Miracle Gro Foundation and Hawthorne Gardening company launched the second iteration of the GroMoreGood™ Hydroponics Garden Project. This second round of the project engaged 25 school communities across the country. Coupled with this launch was the release of the curriculum developed in partnership with KidsGardening entitled, Discovering Through Hydroponics. The project not only aimed to spark a passion for gardening and increase experiential learning for students, it also sought to equip teachers and school staff with tools and resources necessary to integrate food and nutrition education in daily classroom activities. 

The pandemic has shown the critical role of teachers and school staff members in fostering nourishing and community-driven school environments. This project supported the seamless integration of these food education concepts into the classroom and collaborated with teachers and school staff throughout the process. Students are able to complete core academic requirements through engaging activities like planting, harvesting, tasting and even preparing delicious salads, smoothies and a variety of other snacks.

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Trisha Bautista Larson, Program Manager at NFSN, had the wonderful opportunity of visiting two GroMoreGood project school sites in Arizona during Teacher’s Appreciation Week. When asked what she enjoyed the most about having a hydroponics system in the classroom – Ms. Crystal Gutierrez – teacher at Frank Borman Elementary School in Phoenix, Arizona said, “the hydroponics program really helped create a sense of culture, responsibility, care and excitement in the classroom.” Ms. Gutierrez expressed how much she loved teaching and getting students involved. Her students help with watering, investigating, and writing about the peppers and tomatoes currently growing in their hydroponic system. 

Mr. Dustin Hancock from St. David Unified School District in St. David, Arizona shared that the hydroponics kit has been “a great success supplying lettuce and tomatoes to both the culinary program and cafeteria which supports the K-12 school district.” Mr. Hancock expanded to note that other teachers have also been engaged with their hydroponics and have been excited to cultivate their school garden – so much so that their culinary teacher applied to receive funding from the Arizona Department of Education’s Donors Choose grant to purchase four more smaller hydroponics systems for their school. 

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During May’s Peer Learning Session - a virtual space dedicated for school participants to share updates and connect with one another about their hydroponics - teachers and staff expressed their appreciation and excitement for participating in the project. Many shared how adults in the school community are also engaged in using the hydroponics system. At Fairfield Elementary in Eugene, Oregon, Ms. Talor Kirk discussed that teachers were visiting her classroom to make themselves lunch with the unit’s leafy greens. Moreover, roughly 650 students were engaged in the hydroponics project at Bancroft Elementary School in Washington. Students enjoyed tasting their vibrant salad greens and tomatoes as part of learning about the school garden. The Peer Learning Session was a great opportunity to pause and share with each other the amazing learnings that they each have experienced as part of the GroMoreGood Hydroponics project.

“It’s never too soon to develop a love of gardening and reap its many mental, physical, emotional and social benefits,” said Katherine Dickens, manager of corporate social responsibility at the Scotts Miracle-Gro Company. “We’re grateful that NFSN and the second iteration of the GroMoreGood Hydroponics project provides elementary-age students the opportunity to learn valuable lessons that can help them for years to come.” 

NFSN is thrilled to continue to connect with school participants and support efforts towards sustainability as well as maintain community-level conversations around hydroponics systems and gardening in the classroom.

by Hillary Alamene, Communications Intern

In a conversation with Ms. Tara, a third grade teacher from North Andrews Garden Elementary in Florida, we spoke about how she integrated gardening into her classroom and the impact it has had on her students. 

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Ms. Tara first learned about gardening within the classroom through another group of teachers in her district. A friend of hers managed to create a teaching garden where students could plant seeds and witness their growth over time. Feeling intrigued, Ms. Tara's curiosity led her to find a few local workshops where she could learn the fundamentals of gardening. And as her knowledge of the field grew, she felt that she was in a better position to take on the role of starting a garden within her school.

‍How it Started

To support this lofty initiative, she not only researched local and state grants that would offer about $1,000 to get started, but she also sought the assistance of a Master Gardener—someone who had worked within her school district years’ prior and was already familiar with these kinds of grants.

With the help of her Master Gardener, Mr. Wolinsky, Ms. Tara received the grants and began her project. She began by building two garden beds - beds that were primarily filled with onions, tomatoes, kale, and broccoli. During this first year, she harvested these vegetables with her second grade students, and by the end of the year, Ms. Tara and Mr. Wolinsky hosted a Farm to Table event for parents and students, where they showcased their harvest and allowed attendees to taste all the fruits and vegetables from their garden. With a successful turnout by the end of the year, Ms. Tara decided she would continue her gardening initiative.

Years Two and Three

During the second year, Ms. Tara became a third grade teacher and expanded her program to include other students beyond her classroom. Students of various ages began to participate in the garden. For example, students from two third grade classes began to weed and water the garden, while Kindergarteners frequently visited and made note of their observations. By the third year, Ms. Tara began integrating different technologies into her gardening curriculum. When working with Kindergarten students, she placed QR codes at each of the beds throughout the garden. In doing so, students could use iPads to scan the codes and identify each plant, discover recipes using specific fruits, vegetables, and herbs, and note observations about pollinators or other companion plants nearby.

As more teachers invited their students to visit the garden, Ms. Tara also encouraged faculty members to join Harvest of the Month: an educational program that highlights a different Florida-grown product each month of the school year. Through this program, teachers received packets with produce such as peas, oranges, and tomatoes, in addition to worksheets for students to complete—some of which covered topics related to reading, writing, social studies, science, and math. Because Ms. Tara had been an active participant in years' past, she also had her students keep a garden journal and log to complement the materials they received. When students ventured into the garden, they would observe two or three plants and take note of any physical changes, which included but was not limited to signs of budding and changes in plant height or color.

Taking it Further

But the learning did not stop there! She found more ways to make gardening fun for students. When teachers observed National Poetry Month in April, students wrote garden-related haikus, or Japanese poems known for their 17-syllable structure. For Math, students learned perimeter and area by measuring each of the garden beds, and subsequently designing their own.

To further develop their agricultural literacy, Ms. Tara also had students take on a research project. The premise of this task was to select a specific crop or farm animal and then research a variety of facts about the crop or animal in question. Ms. Tara asked students to find common and uncommon food products made with the selected crop or animal, as well as the nutritional values of the identified foods, regions native to these crops or animals, and any additional interesting facts. After compiling this information, students would create a poster, presentation, or research paper to share their findings with their peers. This allowed all students to create unique connections between their experiences in the garden and the routine experiences of their daily lives.

Ms. Tara has succeeded in creating an enriching learning environment. She has given students the opportunity to learn through observation, "to learn how the weather affects plants, how seeds sprout, how plants grow, how gardeners cope with plant problems, how soil, water and the sun interact, and how butterflies and other insects play a role in crop growth." As Ms. Tara reflects on this three-year long initiative, she shares that “gardens can serve as living laboratories in which students see and experience firsthand what they are learning and, in turn, apply that knowledge to real-world situations. When students engage in hands-on gardening lessons, they show an increase in positive attitudes towards content material and learning, in general.”

All that she has accomplished so far would not have been possible without the support of other teachers and external resources. Most of the funding that Ms.Tara received was local—often coming from Broward County, Florida Agriculture in the Classroom, and the Florida Farm Bureau Federation, but this can be replicated in other states. If you are a teacher who is interested in starting your own school garden, consider looking for state-specific funding or applying for national grants, which can be found here.

In April, the US Department of Health and Human Services published its proposed list of scientific questions for the next update of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA). The DGA, reviewed and updated every five years, provides the foundation for the federal government’s recommendations to the public about eating patterns that lead to better health outcomes. Federal child nutrition program standards, like school breakfast and lunch, are required by law to align to the DGA recommendations for kids. So this process of examining scientific evidence on diet underpins the work that farm to school and farm to ECE stakeholders are doing every day. 

NFSN commended the Advisory Committee for its proposed examination of the health effects of ultra-processed foods, the negative impact of added sugars, evidence on effects of saturated fat, and a lifespan approach that recognizes that a diversity of culturally relevant meal pattern approaches can support health. We also commend the commitment to examining all findings through a health equity lens. 

We were dismayed at what seemed to be an increased emphasis on weight, weight management, and obesity as the primary marker of health and main goal of the DGA. body-mass index (BMI), the most common measure of obesity, is a flawed and racially biased way to measure body composition for individuals and diverse populations, and of questionable value as a primary predictor of health. The purpose of Dietary Guidelines for Americans is to review evidence and make recommendations to help Americans avoid chronic disease and enjoy longer, healthier lives. An increased emphasis on weight as a primary goal is, in both substance and implementation, likely to increase racial harms, for instance in medical settings where Black and Brown patients are already at risk of delayed or denied care. Similarly, we worry about the health impact for children of emphasizing weight management as a primary goal of diet quality, rather than nourishing and supporting them for the healthiest and most empowered lives. We encourage the Advisory Committee to focus on the evidence that improves specific chronic disease and well-being outcomes for children and youth, regardless of their weight. 

Finally, NFSN shares the sentiments of many nutrition advocates in calling on the DGA to recognize that sustainability and health are interdependent. The proposed questions would remove questions of the healthiest sustainable diet for examination in a separate process at a later date. NFSN stakeholders work closely with producers and communities who provide child nutrition programs with whole, fresh, and unprocessed foods that nourish kids. Therefore they know that the ability to consume a healthy diet depends on whether our planet can continue to support its production, and the two questions are not exclusive. 

In our comments on the 2020 Dietary Guidelines, NFSN highlighted how farm to school and farm to ECE activities offer proven strategies and tools to help kids learn about the food system, gain lifelong food skills, and shift power within their own food environment. As the process of updating and implementing the DGA continues, NFSN will continue to monitor opportunities for NFSN stakeholder and community comment. 

See NFSN’s full comments here. 

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By Nausher Khan, National Farm to School Network Board Member

Nausher Khan is an advisory board member of the National Farm to School Network and director of strategic business partnerships at Red Rabbit, LLC, USA’s largest Black-owned school food management company celebrating food from all cultures in the cafeteria.

“Millions of American children could go hungry this summer unless Congress acts soon. That’s because an end looms on June 30 for a series of special COVID-era waivers. Among other things, they allow schools to serve free meals to all students. But eliminating the waivers risks more than hunger, it also jeopardizes other gains made in child nutrition programs under the waivers. 

There are more than two dozen waivers, tackling everything from easing the congregate-feeding requirement, which requires children to travel to a central location and eat their meals together at the site, to eliminating the need for household income verification. New York and Illinois are two states which have announced they are extending the emergency contract option for food service into next year, and other states can follow their lead.

The overall intent of the waivers is reasonably simple: Allow school systems to have more flexible conversations with food service management companies and feed more children without administrative red tape. When it comes to feeding kids, these conversations are not only focused on price. They also focus on the values schools are communicating when they make food choices. They allow decision-makers to broaden relationships with suppliers in the communities they serve and use food service to signal the importance of culture and community to their children.

Many food management companies and producers of color are small to mid-sized, and we have benefited from the added flexibility in the way schools negotiate. The waivers have allowed us to retain staff and pay an honest living wage and continue buying fresh produce while serving scratch-made meals to a larger student body. The end of the waivers jeopardizes our success, and the success of others like us around the country and here in New York.”

Read the entire op-ed here. 

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On March 17, USDA opened applications for the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program (LFS). The program will make $200 million available to state governments to purchase local food for school meal programs. The program has three overarching goals:

• Provide opportunities for states to strengthen their local and regional food system,
• Support socially disadvantaged farmers/producers and small businesses, and  
• Establish and broaden relationships between schools and fresh, nutritious food. 

Program details: 

With LFS funding, state agencies will procure domestic, local, unprocessed or minimally processed foods from local farmers and ranchers. Purchases should target socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers as well as small businesses. State agencies will then distribute food to schools in their state that participate in the National School Lunch Program and/or the School Breakfast program. In addition to purchasing food, funds may also be used to cover storage and transportation costs. 

Eligible applicants for LFS are state agencies or departments responsible for agriculture, procurement, food distribution, emergency response, administration of the National School Lunch Program, or similar activities within the state. Only one award per state/territory is available, so agencies within the same state wanting to implement this program should coordinate with one another. The applicant may partner or collaborate with non-profit, for-profit, public, and/or private entities. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis but the final deadline is June 17, 2022, at 11:59 p.m. 

Funding background and complementary opportunities:

The Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement is part of a larger package of money from the USDA Commodity Credit Corporation intended to help school food authorities cope with increased food costs and supply chain issues. Other recent funding from USDA through the Local Agriculture Markets Program (LAMP) Farm to Institution tracks offers complementary opportunities for increasing infrastructure, coordination, and technical assistance to facilitate farm to institution purchasing (see our recent blog post here for more details). Additionally, the Local Food Purchase Cooperative Agreement (LFPA) infuses an additional $400 million in funding for state agencies to purchase and distribute food from small and “socially disadvantaged producers” to increase equity in market opportunities. While these models each have their own constraints, it is gratifying for federal support to recognize the crucial role of building more resilient food systems that begin to shift opportunities for producers and communities. Pursuing and learning from these first-of-a-kind opportunities will offer important lessons to build on as we advance our call to action to shift power toward a racially just food system.

Next steps: 

To read the LFS Request for Application and learn more about the program, visit the USDA’s website: https://www.ams.usda.gov/selling-food-to-usda/lfs 

Share this announcement with relevant state agencies in your area. Review the RFA to determine if your organization would like to be a partner or collaborator on this cooperative agreement. 

Advocate to your state agency for the involvement of socially disadvantaged farmers/producers and small businesses in the creation of the application.

See other open federal funding opportunities relevant to NFSN partners by following this link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/145zNQ4W-ZfI2HQpZo-g87uzmIU1xJqKc62kTtFvUZdw/edit?usp=sharing 

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by Hillary Alamene, Communications Intern

This year's National Farmworker Awareness Week takes place March 25-April 1. The Association of Farmworker Community Programs states National Farmworker Awareness Week (NFAW) is a week of action for communities and individuals to bring attention to farmworkers and honor them for the contributions they make to our daily lives. In the United States, the topic of farmworkers often focuses on the contributions of migrant or seasonal workers in states such as California or Texas, yet, NFAW also acknowledges the various challenges farmworkers face, such as immigration laws, child labor laws, public health issues, and the lack of gender parity within the industry.

This annual celebration began in 1998, initiated by a nonprofit organization called Student Action with Farmworkers (SAF). In championing this week, the intention was to “link campus groups nationally with speakers, films and resources.” Beyond student involvement and experiential learning, SAF also prioritized community engagement and education in their efforts to inform the general public about the status of farmworkers within the United States. 

Taken from SAF’s website, these facts shed light on the role of farmworkers in the United States:

“Farmworkers feed the world—85% of our fresh fruits and vegetables are handpicked. There are an estimated 2.5-3 million men, women, and children who work in the fields in the United States. Farms are in every state, including yours, yet farmworkers remain largely invisible and continue to live and work in horrific conditions. We demand dignity for farmworkers!”

Although industrial agriculture relies on machinery for increased efficiency, farmworkers often work by hand to remove fruits and vegetables, such as strawberries, turnips, and parsley, to ensure minimal bruising. When the pandemic first began in 2020, the LA Times shared the testimonials of farmworkers working in the San Joaquin Valley in California. While many Americans transitioned to conducting meetings over Zoom, farmworkers were designated as ‘essential workers', and continued to labor in the fields. These workers were no longer being paid an hourly rate, but rather a “piece rate” - a rate that is based on the number of fruits and vegetables picked within a given amount of time. In response, one farmworker shared, “you can’t pick strawberries over Zoom.” This put mounting pressure on farmworkers to pick at high speeds, despite increased safety concerns due to the pandemic. Often, farm work does not allow for adequate social distancing or frequent hand washing, which are both critical public health measures during a healthcare crisis. 

“Farm work is one of the most dangerous jobs in the United States. The people who plant and harvest our fruits and vegetables suffer from the highest rate of toxic chemical injuries of any other workers in the nation and have higher incidences of heat stress, dermatitis, urinary tract infections, parasitic infections, and tuberculosis than other wage-earners. We demand safe working conditions for farmworkers!”

One area of concern associated with industrial agriculture is the use of pesticides and the lack of health services for farmworkers. In a study conducted by Stephanie Farquhar, PhD et. al, researchers assessed the occupational hazards experienced by Indigenous and Latino migrant workers in Oregon. They found that only about half of the farmworkers within their sample were aware that they had come into contact with pesticides, indicating that there is an even smaller percentage of workers who may be aware of its health implications. Workers within this sample reported “they had breathed pesticides in the air (61%), touched plants with visible residue (39%), and had been accidentally sprayed by a plane or tractor (34%). Yet only 57% of the farmworkers who reported working in treated areas said they received any type of pesticide safety training”. This same study found “that only 39% of Indigenous workers and 62% of Latino workers had reported ever having been to a health clinic in Oregon, and only 14% of all workers had the option of obtaining health insurance through their employer.” 

A report from Farmworker Justice details the health outcomes of those who suffer from pesticide exposure, noting that pesticide poisoning can often manifest in different forms, depending on the site of exposure. Symptoms may include a runny nose, muscle cramps in one’s arms and legs, headaches, nausea, and insomnia - among a host of others. But because these symptoms may mimic the flu, complaints are often ignored by healthcare professionals. “Farmworkers are the only group of workers not covered by a federal right-to-know regulation that requires employees to be informed of the health effects of specific chemicals they encounter at work," says Farmworker Justice. Unfortunately, this act of negligence has reportedly increased one’s risk of infertility, birth defects, endocrine disruption, neurological disorders, and cancer.

“Farmworkers are treated differently under the law. Overtime, unemployment insurance, and even protection when joining a union are not guaranteed under federal law. [Almost all major federal laws passed in the 1930s] excluded farmworkers. The Fair Labor Standards Act was amended in 1978 to mandate minimum wage for farmworkers on large farms only and it still has not made provisions for overtime. We demand just living and working conditions for farmworkers and an end to unfair treatment under the law.”

At the time the study by Farquar et al. was published, farm workers were required to receive the federal minimum wage of $7.25. For youth, this minimum wage was $4.25. Today, there is much more variability in the number of states where workers are covered by state minimum wage laws; however, little progress has been made to ensure overtime compensation. The National Agricultural Law Center notes that only six states provide overtime compensation: California, Colorado, Hawaii, Minnesota, New York, and more recently, Washington. Oregon is the seventh state to work towards ensuring overtime compensation for this particular group; however, this will not take place immediately. As was the case in Washington, California, and New York, overtime compensation in Oregon will be phased-in incrementally over the course of five years. From 2023 to 2024, farm workers must first work 55 hours per week before receiving additional compensation, then 48 hours a week from 2025-2026; and 40 hours a week by 2027.

In light of this information, it is evident that we must advocate for a collective overhaul of the agribusiness industry. In doing so, we will create a more sustainable food system. If you want to learn more about how to improve the working conditions of farm workers, consult the following resources for more information:

• Farmworker Justice Resource Library
• Student Action with Farmworkers Resource Library
• Farmworker Awareness Week Toolkit from the Equitable Food Initiative
• Rural Agricultural Health and Safety information from the Rural Health Information Hub
• Pesticides Action Network: Farmworkers
• Essential and in Crisis: A Review of the Public Health Threats Facing Farmworkers in the US

Congress recently passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022, a $1.5 trillion omnibus spending package. While the demand for nutritious, equitably procured school meals far exceeds the scope of funding provided, this bill nevertheless contains a handful of wins for farm to school and farm to early care and education (ECE) and much-needed funds for our farmers and communities.

School Meal Funding

This bill provides $26.9 billion for child nutrition programs. This is an increase of $1.77 billion above the FY21 enacted level to meet forecasted participation needs in the programs. As kids return to the classroom, this funding will support more than 5.2 billion school lunches and snacks. Unfortunately, this bill did not include an extension of USDA waiver authority, a temporary pandemic program that has provided millions of schools, children, and families with crucial support amid ongoing economic, supply chain, and labor challenges. As the June 30, 2022, expiration date quickly approaches, NFSN urges Congress to extend USDA waiver authority. NFSN will continue to advocate for this as schools, youth-serving and community-based organizations, and child care providers face the challenge of effectively providing meals to millions of hungry children. 

• School Lunch Program - $14.67 billion
• School Breakfast Program - $5.19 billion
• Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) - $4.31 billion
• Summer Food Service Program - $5.81 million

Farm to School and Scratch Cooking

• Farm to School Grants - $12 million; language to increase grant size max to $500,000, and includes funding for a national Farm to School Institute to build capacity among farm to school and farm to ECE practitioners. (See our series on the success of the Farm to School Institute model here).
• School Meals Equipment grants - $30 million 

Farm to ECE and Child Care - Grant programs through Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recognize the vital and interconnected role of nutrition, physical activity, and racial equity in addressing public health. Dedicated funding for Farm to Early Care and Education (ECE) supports the unique needs of ECE providers with comprehensive, state-based initiatives to increase the number of successful Farm to ECE initiatives. CDC REACH (Racial and Ethnic Aspects of Community Health) Grants provide another source of funding for locally targeted, culturally relevant programs to improve nutrition in child care settings and the community. The Committee includes over $20 billion for early childhood education programs through the Child Care Development Block grant (CCDBG), Head Start, and Preschool Development Grants - an increase of $3.08 billion over the FY21 enacted level. 

• Farm to ECE - The committee includes $2 million within Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity to continue research and education related to farm-to-school programs that result in promoting healthy eating habits for students. 
• CDC REACH Grants -  $65.95 million & SDOH funding - $8 million
• CCDBG - $7.37 billion (FY21 level was $5.9B) 
• Head Start - $12.18 billion
• Preschool Development Grants - $450 million
• Early Child Care Collaborative - $4 million

Local Markets Access

Farm to school and farm to ECE couldn’t exist without work to build vibrant and equitable local food networks. Kids, producers, and communities benefit from investments in local and regional food infrastructure, marketing, and technical assistance. The Local Agriculture Markets Program (LAMP) provides support for overall local and regional food systems projects, increasing the viability of local producers and organizations that make farm to school activities possible. Small and very small meat processors are an essential part of local and regional food systems. Fighting the consolidation of poultry and livestock infrastructure is essential to shifting power to producers and to creating a more crisis-resilient food system. Relief of overtime fees for food safety inspectors are one way to support increased capacity. 

• Local Agriculture Market Program - $20.4 million
• FSIS Small Plant Overtime Fee Relief - $5 million

Producer Support and Equity

Issues of racial inequity pervade the foundations of our food system and of the government programs meant to support producers. Farming Opportunities Training and Outreach Program coordinates outreach to beginning farmers and to farmers who have been excluded by USDA programs because of race. The Office of Urban Agriculture, created by the 2018 Farm Bill, serves to connect urban producers to USDA programs and meet their unique needs. This program is not guaranteed mandatory funding, so an increase in discretionary funding is a hopeful victory for serving urban producers.

• USDA Farmer Outreach Training and Opportunity (FOTO) (2501) - $24 million
• Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Forms of Production - $8.5 million

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National Farm to School Network’s Statement 

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress granted the USDA the authority to issue child nutrition waivers, which have given schools the funding and resources necessary to keep school meals programs afloat while providing free meals to an additional 10 million students each day. This past week, we were deeply disappointed to hear that Congress passed an omnibus spending bill that did not include funding to extend these waivers. Without an extension, the waivers are set to expire on June 30, 2022, even though the challenges school meals programs are facing won’t be over by then. This will push millions of kids and families into food insecurity while greatly disrupting school meals programs and the many stakeholders involved. 

The pandemic has exposed weaknesses in the supply chain, caused labor shortages, and pushed the cost of food higher and higher. According to a recent USDA survey of school nutrition departments, 92% of schools reported experiencing challenges due to supply chain disruptions, 73% reported experiencing staffing challenges, and 67% of schools struggled to procure food due to higher average food prices. These challenges will persist into the 2022-2023 school year. Therefore, continued investment into our school nutrition programs is crucial to help schools navigate these disruptions while transitioning back to in-person learning. 

The waivers not only allowed schools to maintain their school meals programs, but also allowed many schools to make notable strides in their meals services, such as more local procurement and scratch cooking. With the end of the waivers, schools will now face financial pressure to cut back on these improvements, including local and healthy food procurement, investment into staff, and resources for scratch cooking such as equipment. 

As farm to school advocates, we know that successful farm to school initiatives must be built on a foundation of a thriving school meals program that is valued and invested in. In the years since the implementation of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act, which updated school nutrition standards for the first time in decades and increased access for low-income districts with the Community Eligibility Provision, child nutrition program providers made tremendous strides toward meeting these more stringent standards. This has included increasing kids’ consumption of fruits and vegetables and investing in scratch cooking and local ingredients. Now more than ever, students and their communities will need consistent access to nutrition programs that make the most of opportunities to invest in workers and the local economy. 

National Farm to School Network will continue to press Congress to ensure that child nutrition providers have the flexibility and funding to meet kids’ needs in the coming summer and school year.