In the News...

State Lawmakers Put School Food on Ritter's Plate

Monday, April 12 2010

The Sterling Journal Advocate
By: Marianne Goodland
April 10th, 2010

Gov. Bill Ritter now has before him SB 81, which establishes the Colorado Farm-to-School Healthy Kids Act and sets up a 13-member interagency task force that will coordinate the program. In its statement of legislative intent, the bill says that it is in the best interests of Colorado’s children, farmers, ranchers and communities to develop a “self-sustaining agricultural sector that promotes healthy foods at schools” and increases the use of local farm and ranch products in school meal programs.

The program will also benefit local and regional agricultural economies, according to the bill. The 13-member interagency task force will include representatives from the departments of agriculture, education, higher education and public health and environment, as well as members representing school food service directors and one member each from fruit and vegetable organizations, cattle ranching groups, the Western Dairy Association and a food distribution organization.

The taskforce is to be in place by October of this year and is charged with coming up with farm-to-school programs by October of 2013. That could include pilot programs; identifying funding sources or grants to assist school districts with the costs of buying locally-grown foods; designing training for local farmers and ranchers on how to market their products to school districts; and providing assistance to school food services to establish procedures, recipes, menu rotation and other processes that accommodate the use of locally grown foods in public schools, colleges and universities.

The taskforce is required to report progress and findings to the education and agriculture committees of the House and Senate by Feb. 1, 2013. If signed by Ritter, SB 81 goes into effect on Aug. 11, 2010. The farm-to-school movement dates back to about 1996, with the formation of the National Farm to School Program of the Center for Food and Justice, a collaboration between Occidental College and the Community Food Security Coalition. The U.S. Department of Agriculture lent its support to the program through grants in 2000 and it was incorporated into the 2000 federal farm bill, according to farmtoschool.org. Every state in the country, except Nevada, has at least one farm-to-school program or is in the planning stages to establish them. In Colorado four programs are already established. Two are in southwestern Colorado, one is in the Colorado Springs area, and the last is in the Greeley-Evans school district.

SB 81 would make it a statewide effort. Eighteen states have passed legislation establishing farm-to-school programs, including several where programs are established statewide, including Texas, Wisconsin, Michigan and Washington. In testimony before the Senate Education Committee in February, Sen. Paula Sandoval, D-Denver, said the bill would promote healthier eating habits. The bill also states the program would promote relationships between farmers and school children.

Sen. Mark Scheffel, R-Parker, said he liked the concept of using locally-produced food in schools, but questioned whether legislation was really needed. Sandoval said nothing would prevent local school districts from pursuing such programs on their own, but the law would make it easier through creating pathways and models. SB 81 was brought to the General Assembly by the Colorado School Nutrition Association.

Leo Lesh, representing the association, testified that the bill would help address two trends: increasing pressures on school food services from higher costs and the availability of fast food off-campus; and dropping prices to farmers and ranchers. A farm-to-school program will provide children with healthier foods, promote the consumption of fruits and vegetables, and expand markets for farmers and ranchers. But “it’s not as simple as taking the food from the farm to the school,” Lesh explained. A state policy would help school districts learn about sourcing foods from agriculture producers, procurement procedures and menu planning. Farm-to-school programs add value to almost every aspect of school and community life, Lesh said, from the cafeteria to the classroom, with lessons on nutrition and health, and agricultural education. Children can learn where food comes from and how food choices affect their bodies, environment and the community at large. This bill creates a partnership between ag and schools, and is an “explicit effort to build and link systems that guarantee access to healthy, fresh, locally-produced food that will have positive impacts on children, families, communities and the state,” he said. “To me, legislation doesn’t get any better than this.”

Scheffel asked Lesh how the legislation and taskforce would improve upon existing efforts. Lesh replied that school districts don’t know how to approach farms nor do farmers know how to approach school districts. The districts already doing it are doing it on a limited basis and only with produce, and are doing it in different ways, producing a disjointed effort. Under this program, “we’ll have people knocking on our door saying ‘sign me up!’ We’ll be turning them away!” he said. Erin Bertoli of the Colorado chapter of the American Heart Association said the program would help address the growing childhood obesity problem by promoting a healthier lifestyle. Notably, the bill did not have testimony from anyone representing the farming or ranching community, although Benjamin Waters of the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union told the House Education Committee his organization was “monitoring” the bill.

In the House, SB 81 was sponsored by Rep. Judy Solano, D-Brighton. The bill was amended on second reading to include colleges and universities as part of the partnership. Curry, who offered the amendment, said adding higher education would expand the market for local products. The bill’s fiscal note, which outlines its costs to the state, said its costs would be covered under existing appropriations and with existing staffing, although increasing workload for state agencies without additional funding raised concerns for some Republican legislators. Rep. Jerry Sonnenberg, R-Sterling, told fellow House members on March 12 that he would support the bill, in part because it included representation from ranchers and meat producers as well as farmers. SB 81 passed the Senate on a 23-11 vote on February 24 and in the House on a 46-17 vote on March 15. Voting in favor: Sonnenberg and Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma; voting against in the Senate: Brophy. The bill reached the governor’s desk earlier this week.