Farm-To-School

Farm-To-School

Farm-To-School. I’m Greg Martin with Washington Ag Today.

Getting farm fresh food to school kids is what the farm-to-school movement is all about. Trisha Kovacs, Small Farm Direct Marketing and Farm to School Small Business Liaison with the Washington State Department of Agriculture talks about the recent Taste Washington event.

KOVACS: Taste Washington Day has actually been happening for a long time through the Washington School Nutrition Association. We first partnered with them in 2010 which was just a year after we started the Farm-To-School program through legislation. Taste Washington used to be in March when there were relatively few things to eat from Washington and so we decided to move it to late September and now early October because there’s so much harvest happening at that time.

Researchers find that a high quality diet and academic performance go hand-in-hand.

KOVACS: We are able to partner with them to connect farms and food businesses with schools that want to buy locally grown food so this is the time of year when we encourage people to try farm-to-school if they haven't or celebrate it if they have and then we help them find companies and farms to buy from. It’s a great way for us to hear from new businesses or farms that are interested.

Kovacs talks about the importance of the program.

KOVACS: One is that it introduces students to the concept which some of them haven’t had before that our food comes from farms and that here in Washington farming is a big part of our culture and our economy and our landscapes and our lives. And we want to make sure kids know that. It also allows students to get access to some really great food that we grow here and this time of year especially its fresh, it’s in season and it’s a great chance for them to try it.

And that’s Washington Ag Today. I’m Greg Martin, thanks for listening on the Ag Information Network of the West.

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