California’s Farm to School program pairs local farmers, ranchers, and other food producers with school districts. The program’s been so successful, legislators have passed a new law to make it a permanent part of the state’s Department of Agriculture.
Kale Caesar salads, braised short ribs, organic mashed potatoes — those are some of the lunch items students in California schools are enjoying since the state launched its Farm to School program five years ago.
Multiple grant programs run through Farm to School that support everything from healthy school meals, to student field trips to farms, to sending cafeteria workers to culinary academies.
Now, those programs will be both expanded and permanently funded.
At least 500 school districts and nearly 600 small farms are part of the program.