By: Karen Ullmann
WSDA Farm to
School
Washington is one of eight states selected to participate in
the USDA Pilot Project for Unprocessed Fruits and Vegetables. The Pilot, mandated in
the 2014 Farm Bill, enables schools to use their USDA entitlement dollars to
buy more locally-grown, minimally processed produce. In recent years, schools
could only use this money to buy fresh produce from a single designated contractor.
The Pilot Project allows them to use their USDA Foods budget
to buy from a wider variety of vendors, encouraging schools to buy from
regional farms and distributors, and allowing schools
flexibility in the food they offer their students.
Under the Pilot, schools can purchase fruits and
vegetables that are “unprocessed” or “minimally” processed. Sliced, diced,
chopped, frozen and dried fruits and vegetables are acceptable. Heated-treated processing such as canning or pickling is not allowed. Schools can still buy these products with
their other funds, just not through the pilot.
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WSDA Farm to School table
at the Washington State
Nutrition Association Conference
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Already, Washington schools have set aside more than $1
million of this USDA funding for purchases made possible by the Pilot Project. WSDA
is working to recruit and support farms, distributors, and processors to become
approved vendors and to help schools buy through the pilot.
Every year, school nutrition directors and food service
staff from across the state gather at the Washington State Nutrition Association Conference for education and meetings. I attended the conference on July
27, along with Tricia Kovacs, Small Farm Direct Marketing and Farm to School manager. We were there to join Jim Hemmen and Donna Parsons from the Office of
the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) to educate schools about how to
participate in the Pilot Project and what to expect. We
found a lot of interest in the pilot project, but also a lot of questions on
the nuts and bolts of buying food from local farmers.
The good news is that participation
is relatively easy for schools, since USDA approves the vendors and pays for
the food, and standard procurement rules and practices apply. There are 32
school districts currently participating and sign-up is open through December
2015.
Schools interested should contact Jim
Hemmen, Child Nutrition Services, OSPI, (360)-725-6209 or jim.hemmen@k12.wa.us
for more information.
If schools need help with buying local, see A School’s Guide to Purchasing Washington-grown Food,
developed by WSDA’s Farm to School team and partners from Public Health –
Seattle & King County, Washington Sustainable Food & Farming Network
and Washington Environmental Council. Funds came from the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
See our Farm to School Toolkit or email us at farmtoschool@agr.wa.gov for more information.