This document summarizes case studies of farm to school programs in various states and Washington D.C. that were strengthened through legislation and policy changes. Key policies and their impacts discussed include the creation of state farm to school coordinator positions in Alaska, Washington, and Wisconsin to connect schools and local farms. Legislation in Texas, Washington D.C., and Washington state increased funding for farm to school programs and prioritized procurement of local foods. Partnerships between organizations and government agencies were important in advancing these policies and programs.

1. Strengthening Farm to School Programs—A Policy Brief for State & Local Legislators
By Matt Benson and Megan Lott
A publication of the Community Food Security Coalition and National Farm to School
Network
Acknowledgements
CDC Communities Putting Prevention to Work Grant Program
Thank you to the peer-review panel who provided valuable comments and suggestions that
significantly improved this policy brief. This includes
 Dorothy Brayley, Kids First
 Johanna Herron, Alaska Division of Agriculture
 Anupama Joshi, National Farm to School Network
 Marion Kalb, Community Food Security Coalition
 Alyssa Moles, The Food Trust
 Kathy Mulvey, Community Food Security Coalition
 John Weidman, The Food Trust
Thank you to the individuals who provided valuable information and support for the case
studies. This includes
 Becky Elias, Washington State Department of Agriculture
 Johanna Herron, Alaska Division of Agriculture
 Tricia Kovacs, Washington State Department of Agriculture
 Andrea Northrup, D.C. Farm to School Network
 Andrew Smiley, Sustainable Food Center
 Sara Tedeschi, Wisconsin Farm to School Program, Center for Integrated
Agricultural Systems
Thank you to the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for their support. Thank you to the State and
Regional Leads of the National Farm to School Network who provided valuable information
for this project. Special thank you to Marion Kalb for her guidance in the development of
this document.
1 (Benson & Lott, 2012)

2. Case Study 1: Alaska
Due to the challenges of utilizing produce harvested in the state, in January 2009,
Representative Carl Gatto introduced House Bill 70 into the Alaska State Legislature
officially creating the Alaska Farm to School Program. Passed in May 2010, this bill initiated
a permanent full-time position in the Department of Natural Resources, Division of
Agriculture and directed this individual to develop the Alaska Farm to School Program
(http://dnr.alaska.gov/ag/ag_FTS.htm) by connecting Alaska farmers with public school
cafeterias, creating school gardens, school farms, and conducting farm visits. Shortly after
passage, Johanna Herron was hired to lead the program as the Alaska Farm to School
Coordinator. The goal of the Alaska Farm to School Program is to increase the procurement
of Alaska product in the school environment through the support of school aged youth and
school food service professionals. Since the passage of House Bill 70, the Alaska Farm to
School Program has completed two Farm to School summits bringing together over 100
different stakeholders who provided valuable input to the program and creation of an
Alaska Farm to School strategic plan. The Alaska Division of Agriculture has also funded
seventeen local Farm to School projects through a mini-grant program designed to fund
projects that connect more local and regional food to public school cafeterias, develop
school gardens, and implement nutrition and agriculture education through taste tests.
During this time, the Alaska Farm to School program also conducted three farm tours with
the three largest school districts and five diverse farms around Anchorage, Fairbanks, and
the Delta regions of Alaska. Because of funding an Alaska Farm to School Coordinator,
outreach to hundreds of individuals and organizations has occurred, and diverse
stakeholders including, Alaska 4-H, Alaska Future Farmers of America, the Alaska Farm
Bureau, the Youth Alliance for Healthier Alaska, Alaska Youth for Environmental Action,
Alaska Agriculture in the Classroom, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation,
Alaska Cooperative Extension Service and other University groups, Alaska School Nutrition
Association, Child Nutrition Services, Alaska School Food Service Professionals, and other
community advocates have been brought together around a common goal. Additionally,
having an official State Farm to School Coordinator has allowed Alaska to play an active and
leading role in the National Farm to School Network and the movement.
2 (Benson & Lott, 2012)

3. Case Study 2: Texas
Sustainable Food Center (SFC) began planning for a Farm to School project in 2005, and
launched “Sprouting Healthy Kids,” (http://www.sustainablefoodcenter.org/sprouting-
healthy-kids) a Farm to School and food systems education program in Austin, Texas in
2007. Over the years, SFC documented the challenges related to sourcing local food and
evaluated the impact of the program. In 2009, SFC was invited to join the Partnership for a
Healthy Texas, a coalition composed of 22 state agencies and organizations working to
identify and support policy recommendations that positively impact the obesity epidemic.
The Partnership for a Healthy Texas chose Farm to School as a priority during the 2009
Texas legislative session, largely as a result of the aforementioned documentation and
evaluation by SFC. SFC drafted a white paper to introduce the concept of Farm to School to
legislators, which formed the basis of legislation introduced by State Senator Kirk Watson
in March 2009. When introduced, Senate Bill 1027 had no meaningful opposition, and
easily went on to be passed in May 2009. Senate Bill 1027 established an Interagency Farm
to School Coordination Task Force to advance the Texas Farm to School Program by
making specific recommendations for state agency support that would allow more school
systems to source food for their cafeterias from local and regional farms. This sixteen
member Task Force developed a 25-page report, which summarized challenges faced by
both schools and farmers to further developing Texas Farm to School. The report also
presented several recommendations, including the creation of a state Farm to School
Coordinator position within the Texas Department of Agriculture. Unfortunately, despite
gaining approval from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to use National
School Lunch Program State Administrative Expense funds from the USDA Food &
Nutrition Service to support the position, due to state budgetary issues, the position has yet
to be created. Rather than viewing this as a barrier to furthering Texas Farm to School, SFC,
Texas Department of Agriculture, and other supporters are pursuing alternate strategies
such as sourcing other funding for the position and identifying tasks that could be
incorporated into existing positions within the Department.
3 (Benson & Lott, 2012)

4. Case Study 3: Washington, D.C.
In an effort to improve child health and wellness, D.C. Council Member Mary Cheh and
Council Chairman Vincent Gray introduced the Healthy Schools Act in December of 2009.
Among other things, the Healthy Schools Act requires D.C. schools to meet the United States
Department of Agriculture’s Healthier U.S. Gold nutrition standards for school meals and to
serve minimally processed foods from sustainable, local growers whenever possible. In
May of 2010, the bill passed unanimously in the Council and was signed by the Mayor,
effective for the 2010-2011 school year. The legislation creates an extra 5-cent
reimbursement for meals that include locally grown and unprocessed foods and a 10-cent
reimbursement for meals that meet the updated nutrition requirements. Schools are also
required to promote and educate students and staff about eating local and sustainable food,
and participate in at least one Farm to School educational event each year (such as a Farm
to School Week). Additionally, the Healthy Schools Act requires schools to be held
accountable to their Local Wellness Policies, which should include a Farm to School
component. Finally, the Healthy Schools Act establishes a school garden grant program
within the state education agency. To pay for these new provisions, specifically the increase
in reimbursement for school meals, the legislation extended the D.C. sales tax to include
soda purchased within the District. During this legislative process, numerous community
partnerships were formed between the D.C. Farm to School Network
(http://dcfarmtoschool.org), teachers, parents, farmers, food service providers,
environmental organizations, farmers’ market directors, and health advocates. These
partnerships proved essential when advocates had to go head-to-head with the soda
industry to keep this revenue stream, and then again defend funding for the Act from
budget cuts across the District in 2010. Due to the recent passage of this legislation, it is
difficult to measure the full impact it will have; however, to date, there have been higher
participation rates in school breakfast programs, a school garden coordinator has been
hired, and many schools are currently renewing their food service contracts with
provisions that comply with the Healthy Schools Act (http://dchealthyschools.org).
4 (Benson & Lott, 2012)

5. Case Study 4: Washington State
Due to a wealth of support from diverse stakeholder groups, (including agricultural,
environmental, education, and child-welfare advocates) the 2008 Local Farms-Healthy Kids
Act was introduced in the Washington State Legislature by Representative Eric Pettigrew.
This legislation was designed to connect schools with community-based farms and provide
the necessary information and technical assistance to both schools and farmers by
establishing a Farm to School Program in the Washington State Department of Agriculture
(WSDA). It also created the Washington Grown Fruits and Vegetables Program, and
adapted government purchasing policies to help direct state dollars towards local farms
and food sellers. The Local Farms-Healthy Kids Act passed with only one dissenting vote
and was signed into law by the Governor in March of 2008. The policy initially allocated
funding for 2.5 employees and the Washington Grown Fruit and Vegetables Program,
however funding for one employee was eliminated before the program was initiated.
Additionally, the fruit and vegetable program was cut by half after one year, and eliminated
the following year. Despite these cuts, the WSDA Farm to School Program conducted
statewide outreach to increase awareness of, and participation in, Farm to School and
sought funding for additional projects. The WSDA team presented on Farm to School topics
at more than fifty events, reaching an estimated 1,500 people and their listserv now has
over 650 members who share and receive information about Farm to School, including
news, events, job and funding opportunities, research and government updates. The WSDA
Farm to School Program worked directly with over one hundred school districts and fifty
farms to support successful Farm to School sales relationships. Furthermore, the WSDA
Farm to School team has worked with local groups in the state to support regional Farm to
Cafeteria conferences and respond to geographically specific needs. The team developed an
innovative training model using mobile tours to provide an opportunity for farms and
schools to see each other in action and learn about the realities of on-farm and school
kitchen operations, including hands-on cooking training using local produce. These events
use a peer-to-peer training model that empowers the farmers and foodservice staff to share
their experience and expertise with one another. Mobile tours have been conducted in five
locations around the state, with more planned for the future. In 2009, WSDA partnered for
the first time with Washington School Nutrition Association on Taste Washington Day, an
annual celebration of Washington grown foods served in school meals, resulting in more
than sixty schools and fifty local farms teaming up to celebrate Washington-grown produce
and teach kids about healthy eating habits by featuring locally-sourced meals in the school
cafeterias. Survey responses indicated $17,000 was spent on Washington grown products
for that day’s lunch and schools planned to spend $90,000 more on Washington products
during the following six months. The WSDA has been awarded over $700,000 in externally
funded grants to enhance the Washington Farm to School Program, and assisted numerous
organizations in garnering an additional $659,000 in grants to support related efforts
throughout the state. State funding for the WSDA Farm to School Program was eliminated
in 2011, although the team will continue working on grant-funded Farm to School projects
over the next couple of years. These projects include critical training on regulatory
requirements for bidding and contracting, food safety education and assistance for farms
and schools, and continued development of a web-based resource toolkit for Farm to
School (www.wafarmtoschool.org).
5 (Benson & Lott, 2012)

6. Case Study 5: CPPW Success—Wisconsin
By strengthening local and state Farm to School programs, Wisconsin is addressing
growing concerns about public health related to childhood obesity and diabetes, and
focusing on stimulating rural and agricultural economies by supporting small and medium
farms. With support from a Communities Putting Prevention to Work (CPPW) grant, diverse
stakeholders including teachers, farmers, public health advocates, and community-based
educators are promoting more physical activity, greater health and nutrition, and economic
development in La Crosse and Wood Counties, and across Wisconsin. In La Crosse and
Wood Counties, projects include connecting local and regional farm products to school
cafeterias and cultivating school gardens. Organizations and individuals are also updating
school wellness policies to include Farm to School goals, encouraging healthy vending
options, and organizing more physical activity opportunities for youth and the community
at-large. At the state level, CPPW funding has provided for training and technical assistance
across the state, including the completion of two web-based Farm to School toolkits,
specifically targeting School Nutrition Directors and producers with the tools, resources,
and strategies to successfully purchase and market local and regional foods. Additionally, a
Wisconsin Farm to School summit is being planned for early 2012 and a state level
Wisconsin Farm to School advisory council has been convened, with representation from
state agencies, stakeholder groups, and advocacy partners. With CPPW support, Wisconsin
is able to direct expertise and resources to support, develop, and evaluate its Farm to
School programs in hopes of changing state policy to include funding for Farm to School.
Networks and organizations are also increasingly communicating, building grass-root
coalitions, sharing resources, and partnering to strengthen Wisconsin Farm to School for
long-term success.
6 (Benson & Lott, 2012)