Farm to School Advocacy

Farm to School and School Garden programs bring Oregon-grown and processed foods into Oregon schools for the breakfasts and lunches served throughout the school year and creates garden-based curricula to give students hands-on education about the path foods take from the soil to their plate.

 

Why it’s Upstream:

These programs have been shown to increase the nutritional quality of foods served in school and the amount of fruits and vegetables students consume, both in schools and at home1. Furthermore, farm to school programs help develop better lifelong eating habits among kids, which will help stave off obesity and other chronic illnesses, including diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.

 

What we're up to:

We are currently advocating for HB 2800 in the 2011 Oregon Legislative Session to fund statewide Oregon Farm to School Programs to get local products in cafeterias.  Stay tuned as we update with details about the legislation and it's progress.

 

Click here to download the one-page fact sheet.

 

 

For more information contact Campaign Coordinator, Marah Hall.   

 

 

1. McAleese JD, Rankin LL: Garden-Based Nutrition Education Affects Fruit and  Vegetable Consumption in Sixth-Grade Adolescents. Journal of the American Dietetic  Association 2007, 107(4):662-665.
2. Sandeno C, Wolf G, Drake T, Reicks M. Behavioral strategies to increase fruit and vegetable intake by fourth- through sixth-grade students. J Am Diet Assoc. 2000;100:828-830.

3. O’Dea J. Children and adolescents’ eating habits and attitudes: Preliminary findings from the national nutrition and physical activity study. NutriDate. 2004; 15:1-4.