USDA official encourages Wisconsin school districts to source more local foods

WISCONSIN RAPIDS, Wis. — Deborah Kane admits she doesn’t know a lot about Wisconsin, but she does know quite a bit about bringing food raised on local farms into school lunch programs.

The national director of United States Department of Agriculture’s Farm to School Program was in the state for the first time Jan. 29 to speak at the Wisconsin Farm to School Summit in Wisconsin Rapids. The summit drew about 200 attendees, including school officials, food service directors, farmers and AmeriCorps volunteers working in farm to school programs. Kane’s position was created by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010.

“The mandate from Congress was as much about food education and food literacy as it was food procurement,” she said.

Kane praised Wisconsin for passing legislation to encourage the growth of farm to school programs, which allows them to move forward and expand faster than states without policies.

Kane said survey data from the 2011-12 school year shows 59 percent of school districts in Wisconsin engaged in farm to school activities, which include hands-on learning activities like school gardening, farm visits and culinary classes, the integration of food-related education into the regular, standards-based classroom curriculum and procuring food from local and regional sources. Another 18 percent of school districts indicated they planned to start farm to school programs.

Kane said of participating districts, 91 percent are serving local foods in lunch, mainly fruits and vegetables and 38 percent are serving them for breakfast. Just 8 percent are integrating local foods into snack programs. Despite being known as the dairy state, only 32 percent are serving local milk.

Wisconsin school districts spent $9.5 million on local foods, a number that Kane said could easily grow by sourcing more local dairy and meat, and expanding efforts in summer meals and preschool programs. The spending represents 16 percent of the food purchased by schools.

“Imagine if you were spending closer to 20 or 25 percent,” she said.