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Virginia Farm-to-School Week:
Farm to School
Growing from Grassroots
Matt Benson

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Special Thanks
S i l Th k
• Virginia Department of Agric lt re Leanne DuBois
Agriculture- D Bois
• Virginia Department of Education-
g p
Catherine Digilio-Grimes
• Virginia Farm to School Work Group
Farm-to-School
• Virginia Food System Council- 501c3
• National Farm-t0-School Network
• USDA- Jimmy Nguyen

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The Ch ll
Th Challenge The O
Th Opportunity
i
• Over 92% of farms gross • VA schools currently spend more
than $6 million annually on
< $100,000 fresh produce
• 1% of total Ag sales are • VA FFVP funding will increase
direct marketing to $2.4 million for the 2010-2011
school year
y
• Organic Ag: 12% => ~91%
• If $0.25 a day per student lunch
were devoted to purchasing
p g
• Average age of farmer= 58 locally grown Virginia farm
years old products, more than $30.7
million would be reinvested
annually in Virginia’s farm
• Over 400 years of economy and rural communities
agricultural ‘tradition’

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Background & History
B k d Hi
• Virginia Farm to School authorized in 2007 legislation
Farm-to-School
forming task force
• Co-led by Department of Agriculture and Department of
Education with multiple partners
• No dedicated funding for “ VA F-2-S”
▫ Duties within roles
▫ Cooperative Extension- ‘capacity builder’
• Ed
Education, pilot projects, work group, and P
ti il t j t k d Programs

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First
Fi steps… W k G
Work Group
• Convened in July 2009
• Representatives from public, private and non-
profit / community-based organizations
• Multidisciplinary, focused on F-2-C
• Communication, awareness building, leadership
• 2009 Farm-to-School Week first activity

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2009 W k
Week
• 2nd week of November
• Every region of Virginia p
y g g participated
p
• ~35 divisions participated
• Support from public, private and CBOs- local, regional
and state
• Sourced over 36 different foods- dairy, fruits, veggies
and meats…
d t
▫ Special emphasis on Virginia apples

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2009 Week
• Participation varied…
▫ 1 product, 1 meal, 1 day, several days, several
foods, ll
f d all week k
• Worked with community food enterprises
▫ Local Food Hub- Charlottesville
▫ Fall Line Farms Online Market- Richmond
Market
• Included farmer visits to schools and classroom
learning activities

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Legislative Success
L i l i S
• Found a key ally- House Delegate Ed Scott
• National policy review- Discovered Maryland
home grown lunch bill
• Built a coalition of private, public and CBOs
• Joint Resolution (‘10)– HJ95 Officially
establishing VA Farm-to-School Week
Farm to School
▫ HB 398 (Lohr)

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Best Practices
• Plan early
• Use existing communication networks
g
• Form interdisciplinary partnerships
• Engage audiences across the region or state
• Small steps are good steps
• Communicate w/ local stakeholders
▫ Invite decision-makers to events

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Best Practices
• U ili volunteers
Utilize l
• Find a local champion
• Do not use a black box approach
▫ Build into existing food system projects- farmers
markets, BF BL campaigns, new business development
• Evaluate and celebrate
We have resources to share:
▫ Media releases, “Getting Started” pub, policy template

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Future Steps
F S
• Official 2010 Farm to School Week
Farm-to-School
• Infrastructure development- production food
development production,
hubs, processing, distribution
• School and community gardening
• Assessment:
▫ Week
▫ Program

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Successes
S
• PBS Special- America's Heartland
i l i ' l d
• USDA Tactical T
T ti l Team visit- H i
i it Harrisonburg City
b Cit
Public School System
• Silver Diner Restaurant Program
• Diverse collaboration