Fresh off the Farm: Va. Program Connects Schools to Homegrown Food

State officials have launched a program designed to connect small Virginia farmers with schools in hopes of boosting the agricultural economy and encouraging children to eat organic, locally grown food.

The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services announced June 18 the creation of a Web site devoted to the Farm-to-School program ( http://www.vdacs.virginia.gov/marketing/farm.shtml).

Officials plan to use the site to link local producers of milk, eggs, meat and produce with colleges, universities, and public and private grade schools that are interested in purchasing those goods, many of which are organic, to feed students.

"We are essentially offering a matchmaking service here," said Elaine Lidholm, a spokeswoman for the agriculture department. "If a farmer or a group of farmers says, 'Yes, we can provide apples and whatever for your school and deliver it right to your door,' we want to be able to connect them with a school that wants that service."

Virginia schools spend more than $6 million a year on fresh produce, Lidholm said. The aim is to encourage schools to turn to local producers for more of what cafeterias serve, such as apples in the fall or salad greens in the spring.

The department hopes to capitalize on the rising popularity of locally grown food, which is prized for its environmental benefits. Some consumers say it is healthier and tastes better, and farmers have noted that crops grown closer to markets are more economical as gas prices soar.

The program also could link schools with food from farms in places such as Loudoun County, the Shenandoah Valley or Southside Virginia.

Several states have adopted Farm-to-School programs, including Maryland and Pennsylvania, said Tegan Hagy, the mid-Atlantic coordinator for the national program.

In the past, federal regulations prohibited government agencies from giving preferential treatment to local businesses, but some of those barriers were lifted under farm legislation Congress passed this year, she said.

The programs not only have economic and nutritional benefits, but also educational ones, Hagy said.

"It's not just about getting the food into the child's mouth," she said. "While obviously that's important, we really want them to internalize and understand where their food comes from. People have gotten really disconnected from that."

Some schools in the state have been forging relationships with area farmers. Students in Rappahannock County, which "probably has one of the highest farmer-to-student ratios in the state," joked resident Amy Silver O'Leary, have been growing and cooking crops donated by local farmers as part of a program called Farm-to-Table.

The connection not only has enriched school lunches, but also has helped students understand the connection between the land and what they eat, said O'Leary, coordinator of grants and partnerships for Headwaters, the education group in charge of the program.

"One of the things our program does is raise children's awareness of where their food comes from and what it takes to produce food," she said.