Legislators aim to boost local food in schools
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AMHERST - More locally grown food may soon be available in Massachusetts schools, as state legislators work to increase the amount of local produce schools can buy outside of their standard food service contracts.
The proposal, which was filed as an amendment to the school nutrition bill passed by the House and Senate last week, has attracted a wide coalition of supporters, ranging from anti-hunger organizations to "Farm to School" advocates, who say the measure will increase access to nutritional food in Massachusetts schools while also serving as a boost to the state's farmers.
"(Local food) is fresh, wholesome food that is reliable, comes from local farmers, helps our local economy and, we hope, will get more nutritious food into children's diets," said state Sen. Stanley Rosenberg, D-Amherst.
The provision would increase the amount of local food that school districts can purchase outside of their food service contracts. Currently, Massachusetts school districts are legally required to accept the lowest bid they receive for such contracts. A 2006 law allows districts to go outside their food contracts to buy local food, as long as the purchase is less than $25,000.
Kelly Erwin, managing consultant for the Massachusetts Farm to School Project in Amherst, said the current cap is too low for urban school districts, as it takes bulk delivery of produce to make such a deal viable.
"For a larger district, one local food contract of $25,000 or less might last two or three weeks," said Erwin, citing school districts such as Springfield or Boston. "It is difficult for districts trying to maintain a regular purchasing relationship with a local farmer for purchasing fresh food."
The House and Senate must reconcile their respective versions of the bill in a conference committee before the measure can be sent to the governor's desk, as there are some differences between the two versions that need to be ironed out. The House draft would allow school districts to purchase up to $50,000 in local produce. The Senate version maintains the cap on local food purchases at $25,000, but introduces new language that would allow districts to enter into multiple local contracts of $25,000 or less.
Timothy O'Niell, research director for the Joint Committee on Public House, said a timeline for establishing a conference committee had not been set. Yet he predicted the measure's timely passage.
"The differences between the two bills are minor in comparison to passing the legislation this year," O'Neill said Monday.
For her part, Erwin said she would be pleased with either version of the bill.
"From my perspective, the $50,000 is great," Erwin said. "If they can get language that allows multiple individual contracts less than $25,000, that's great, too. It might even be better."
Erwin said more Massachusetts farms and schools are participating in the Farm to School Project. In 2009, 50 Bay State farmers sold produce to some 205 school districts across the state, Erwin said, while an additional 30 acted as middlemen - buying food from other local farms and selling it to districts. She listed Belchertown, Gateway Regional, Greenfield, Leverett and Williamsburg as some of the area schools that currently participate in the Farm to School Project.
Farm-to-school programs also serve as an economic boon to farmers, Erwin said. A 2008 study conducted by her organization found that 29 farms participating in the program realized $750,000 in gross revenue, she said.
Andrew Morehouse, executive director of the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, is a strong supporter of the farm-to-school provision in the nutrition bill.
"We know for a fact that kids who know where their food is coming from are more attentive to nutrition," Morehouse said. "Part of the curriculum developed in this bill will teach kids about the food they eat, where it comes from and its nutritional value."
Joe Czajkowski, a Hadley farmer, sells his produce, and produce from surrounding farms, to the University of Massachusetts, Hampshire College and public schools in Belchertown and Hadley, among others. He said farm-to-school sales accounted for 15 percent of his business. While the Hadley farmer said he was unsure of the specifics in the state bill, he said he supported the idea of farm-to-school programs.
"I think it is a good idea for local schools to buy local food when they can," Czajkowski said. "It keeps jobs in the Valley, it preserves open farmland, it brings more nutritious food and it's more ecological."
"The typical distance that food travels in this country from farm to fork is 1,500 miles," Czajkowski said. "To UMass, we're about a mile away. I think this is more efficient."
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