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Vegetables fill containers at an event for food and nutrition. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack visited Clear Lake Community School District to recognize the district for its trailblazing and innovative efforts to improve the nutritional quality of meals for students. Earlier this month, the school district received a Healthy Meals Incentives Recognition Award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) through the Food and Nutrition Service for efforts to ensure the meals served are healthy, nutritious, and enjoyable for students. Secretary Vilsack participated in a child nutrition panel discussion and met with high school students from the Future Farmers of America program at Clear Lake High School on March 25, 2024, in Clear Lake, Iowa. USDA media by Cecilia Lynch
Flat Out bread = 1 point
2 T BBQ sauce = 1 point
1/2 C 2% mozzarella = 3.5 points
4 slices Canadian bacon = 1 point
1/4 cup chopped onion = 0 point
GRAND TOTAL = 6.5 points
FOR PIZZA!!!
A colorful plate is a healthy and tasty dinner. Sliced grilled pork loin, plantains, black beans and a slice of orange. Meals enter first through the eye.
Muscle Kitchen Manila, Fit Fuel, and Ketos of Manila are now on honestbee. They are currently delivering in BGC, Makati and Ortigas but will expand soon. One can order the 5-day diet meals with a delivery fee of only Php 350 only. The cut off for the following week is Friday and 5PM for delivery the following week. All of which are said to provide quality standard menu dishes.
visit www.nognoginthecity.com
Northwest elementary school, Lebanon, PA, Oct. 17, 2024. As part of a larger update to the school nutrition standards announced earlier this year, USDA made it easier for schools to buy local foods. Beginning this school year (2024-2025), USDA instituted a policy change allowing schools to require foods to be locally grown, raised or caught when making purchases for their meal programs. The recently announced $500 million investment in Local Foods for Schools will encourage schools to leverage this new option to buy local.
To help empower schools in their efforts to improve meal quality and implement the updated meal standards, USDA invested $100 million to establish the Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative. Through this initiative, USDA provided $30 million in grants for small and/or rural school districts to help schools serve more nutritious meals by modernizing their operations. This is the largest targeted investment USDA has ever made for school meal programs in small and rural communities.
USDA will also provide a total of $50 million in grants to stimulate innovation in the school meals marketplace by incentivizing collaboration between schools, the food industry, and other stakeholders.
USDA is offering recognition awards to celebrate school districts that make improvements to the nutritional quality of their school meals and hosting summits for schools to highlight and share best practices for nutritious meal programs. (Lebanon SD is an HMI Recognition Awardee)
Nutritious school meals are a top priority for USDA and the Biden-Harris Administration, which have provided about $13.2 billion in extra financial support for schools since 2021 to ensure they have the resources they need to operate successful meal programs. School meals are a vital source of nutrition for about 30 million children nationwide, giving them the fuel they need to grow, learn and thrive. This is in addition to per meal reimbursements schools receive for serving balanced meals to kids during the school day.
USDA is also committed to increasing access to school meals to ensure all children are set up for success in the classroom and beyond. Advancing a pathway to free healthy school meals for all is a priority of the Biden-Harris Administration’s White House National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition and Health. Investments in Local, Domestic Foods
Since 2021, USDA has provided a boost of nearly $4.8 billion for school meal programs to purchase domestic, unprocessed foods. Of that, nearly $700 million – including the recently-announced $500 million investment – is through the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program. This program is specifically for procuring local and regionally sourced foods with an emphasis on purchases from historically underserved producers.
In addition to providing schools greater access to nutritious, local foods for their meal programs, this funding creates new market opportunities for producers as well as jobs and opportunities in local communities.
The supply chain for school meal programs is strongest when schools have relationships with local suppliers. The result is a stronger, fairer, more resilient local food chain for schools.
Farm to school activities – such as serving local foods in school, growing a school garden, tasting new foods and visiting local farms – provide experiential learning for children, support American farmers and producers, boost nutrition in school meals and more.
The new USDA Farm to School Census reports that 74% of schools served local foods during school year 2022-2023.
Other key findings include:
· School districts that purchased local spent about $1.8 billion on local foods, roughly 16% of their total food spending.
· Participation in farm to school activities has grown by 14% since the 2019 Farm to School Census.
· School districts with a high percent of students receiving free or reduced-price meals are as likely to participate in farm to school as lower-need school districts.
In 2024, USDA invested a record-breaking $14.3 million in Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grants, supporting projects that will touch 1.9 million children across the nation. USDA awarded grants to 154 projects in 43 states, DC, Guam and Puerto Rico. This brings the total investment in these grants to $48 million since January 2021 and $98 million since the program’s inception in 2013. (USDA photo by Christophe Paul)
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack spoke with Barb Prather, Executive Director, Northeast Iowa Food Bank after an event. Secretary Vilsack visited Clear Lake Community School District to recognize the district for its trailblazing and innovative efforts to improve the nutritional quality of meals for students. Earlier this month, the school district received a Healthy Meals Incentives Recognition Award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) through the Food and Nutrition Service for efforts to ensure the meals served are healthy, nutritious, and enjoyable for students. Secretary Vilsack participated in a child nutrition panel discussion and met with high school students from the Future Farmers of America program at Clear Lake High School on March 25, 2024, in Clear Lake, Iowa. USDA media by Cecilia Lynch
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack posed for a photograph and spoke with stakeholders and panel participants following an event to highlight food and nutrition. From left to right: Rob Bisceglie, Executive Officer and President, Action for Healthy Kids; Barb Prather, Executive Director, Northeast Iowa Food Bank; Andrea Evelsizer, Executive Director, Healthy Harvest of North Iowa; Jami Haberl, Executive Director, Iowa Healthiest State Initiative; Secretary Vilsack; Peter Kraus, General Manager, Iowa Food Hub; Teresa Wiemerslage, Field Specialist, Farm, Food and Enterprise Development Iowa State University Extension and Outreach; Wendy Johnson, Farmer, FSA State Committee; Jason Grimm, Farmer, Deputy Director, Iowa Valley Resource Conservation and Development; and Beth Rachut, Potato and Onion Growers, Kittleson Brothers. Secretary Vilsack visited Clear Lake Community School District to recognize the district for its trailblazing and innovative efforts to improve the nutritional quality of meals for students. Earlier this month, the school district received a Healthy Meals Incentives Recognition Award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) through the Food and Nutrition Service for efforts to ensure the meals served are healthy, nutritious, and enjoyable for students. Secretary Vilsack participated in a child nutrition panel discussion and met with high school students from the Future Farmers of America program at Clear Lake High School on March 25, 2024, in Clear Lake, Iowa. USDA media by Cecilia Lynch
Oranges fill containers at an event for food and nutrition. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack visited Clear Lake Community School District to recognize the district for its trailblazing and innovative efforts to improve the nutritional quality of meals for students. Earlier this month, the school district received a Healthy Meals Incentives Recognition Award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) through the Food and Nutrition Service for efforts to ensure the meals served are healthy, nutritious, and enjoyable for students. Secretary Vilsack participated in a child nutrition panel discussion and met with high school students from the Future Farmers of America program at Clear Lake High School on March 25, 2024, in Clear Lake, Iowa. USDA media by Cecilia Lynch
A comforting warm salad packed with nutrition that is satisfying as a light and very healthy meal on its own, warm baby beet salad is made with the roots and leaves of baby beets combined with hard-boiled eggs and snap beans, butter beans, wild garlic and onions, cooked in red wide, mustard, and butter. www.scribd.com/doc/199551422/Warm-Baby-Beet-Salad
Here's a perfect healthy and delicious fall dish for "Tasty Tuesday! Check out the Acorn Squash recipe in The Meals to Heal Cookbook that I photographed!
Link for the book: savorhealth.com/product/the-meals-to-heal-cookbook/
#tastytuesday #acornsquash #healthymeals #healthyrecipes #foodphoto #nytfood #realfood #delicious #yummyfood #fallfood #beautifulfood #buzzfeedfood #tastespotting #onmytable #foodpic
@savor_health @loumanna
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U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack posed for a photograph and spoke with panel participants following an event to highlight food and nutrition. From left to right: Andrea Evelsizer, Executive Director, Healthy Harvest of North Iowa; Jami Haberl, Executive Director, Iowa Healthiest State Initiative; Secretary Vilsack; Peter Kraus, General Manager, Iowa Food Hub; and Teresa Wiemerslage, Field Specialist, Farm, Food and Enterprise Development Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. Secretary Vilsack visited Clear Lake Community School District to recognize the district for its trailblazing and innovative efforts to improve the nutritional quality of meals for students. Earlier this month, the school district received a Healthy Meals Incentives Recognition Award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) through the Food and Nutrition Service for efforts to ensure the meals served are healthy, nutritious, and enjoyable for students. Secretary Vilsack participated in a child nutrition panel discussion and met with high school students from the Future Farmers of America program at Clear Lake High School on March 25, 2024, in Clear Lake, Iowa. USDA media by Cecilia Lynch
Employees or the Northwest Elementary School prepares lunch for students, Lebanon, Pa., Oct.. 17, 2024. As part of a larger update to the school nutrition standards announced earlier this year, USDA made it easier for schools to buy local foods. Beginning this school year (2024-2025), USDA instituted a policy change allowing schools to require foods to be locally grown, raised or caught when making purchases for their meal programs. The recently announced $500 million investment in Local Foods for Schools will encourage schools to leverage this new option to buy local.
To help empower schools in their efforts to improve meal quality and implement the updated meal standards, USDA invested $100 million to establish the Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative. Through this initiative, USDA provided $30 million in grants for small and/or rural school districts to help schools serve more nutritious meals by modernizing their operations. This is the largest targeted investment USDA has ever made for school meal programs in small and rural communities.
USDA will also provide a total of $50 million in grants to stimulate innovation in the school meals marketplace by incentivizing collaboration between schools, the food industry, and other stakeholders.
USDA is offering recognition awards to celebrate school districts that make improvements to the nutritional quality of their school meals and hosting summits for schools to highlight and share best practices for nutritious meal programs. (Lebanon SD is an HMI Recognition Awardee)
Nutritious school meals are a top priority for USDA and the Biden-Harris Administration, which have provided about $13.2 billion in extra financial support for schools since 2021 to ensure they have the resources they need to operate successful meal programs. School meals are a vital source of nutrition for about 30 million children nationwide, giving them the fuel they need to grow, learn and thrive. This is in addition to per meal reimbursements schools receive for serving balanced meals to kids during the school day.
USDA is also committed to increasing access to school meals to ensure all children are set up for success in the classroom and beyond. Advancing a pathway to free healthy school meals for all is a priority of the Biden-Harris Administration’s White House National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition and Health. Investments in Local, Domestic Foods
Since 2021, USDA has provided a boost of nearly $4.8 billion for school meal programs to purchase domestic, unprocessed foods. Of that, nearly $700 million – including the recently-announced $500 million investment – is through the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program. This program is specifically for procuring local and regionally sourced foods with an emphasis on purchases from historically underserved producers.
In addition to providing schools greater access to nutritious, local foods for their meal programs, this funding creates new market opportunities for producers as well as jobs and opportunities in local communities.
The supply chain for school meal programs is strongest when schools have relationships with local suppliers. The result is a stronger, fairer, more resilient local food chain for schools.
Farm to school activities – such as serving local foods in school, growing a school garden, tasting new foods and visiting local farms – provide experiential learning for children, support American farmers and producers, boost nutrition in school meals and more.
The new USDA Farm to School Census reports that 74% of schools served local foods during school year 2022-2023.
Other key findings include:
· School districts that purchased local spent about $1.8 billion on local foods, roughly 16% of their total food spending.
· Participation in farm to school activities has grown by 14% since the 2019 Farm to School Census.
· School districts with a high percent of students receiving free or reduced-price meals are as likely to participate in farm to school as lower-need school districts.
In 2024, USDA invested a record-breaking $14.3 million in Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grants, supporting projects that will touch 1.9 million children across the nation. USDA awarded grants to 154 projects in 43 states, DC, Guam and Puerto Rico. This brings the total investment in these grants to $48 million since January 2021 and $98 million since the program’s inception in 2013. (USDA photo by Christophe Paul)
Andrea Evelsizer, Executive Director, Healthy Harvest of North Iowa, at the microphone makes a point during a panel discussion. From left to right: Vista Suarez Fletcher, Midwest Regional Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service, USDA; Andrea Evelsizer; Peter Kraus, General Manager, Iowa Food Hub; Julie Udelhofen, Food Service Director, Clear Lake Schools; Secretary Vilsack; and Rob Bisceglie, Executive Officer and President, Action for Healthy Kids. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack visited Clear Lake Community School District to recognize the district for its trailblazing and innovative efforts to improve the nutritional quality of meals for students. Earlier this month, the school district received a Healthy Meals Incentives Recognition Award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) through the Food and Nutrition Service for efforts to ensure the meals served are healthy, nutritious, and enjoyable for students. Secretary Vilsack participated in a child nutrition panel discussion and met with high school students from the Future Farmers of America program at Clear Lake High School on March 25, 2024, in Clear Lake, Iowa. USDA media by Cecilia Lynch
Christie Vilsack, educator and literacy advocate and spouse of U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, spoke with panel participants following an event to highlight food and nutrition. From left to right: Andrea Evelsizer, Executive Director, Healthy Harvest of North Iowa; Jami Haberl, Executive Director, Iowa Healthiest State Initiative; Peter Kraus, General Manager, Iowa Food Hub; Christie Vilsack; and Teresa Wiemerslage, Field Specialist, Farm, Food and Enterprise Development Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. Secretary Vilsack visited Clear Lake Community School District to recognize the district for its trailblazing and innovative efforts to improve the nutritional quality of meals for students. Earlier this month, the school district received a Healthy Meals Incentives Recognition Award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) through the Food and Nutrition Service for efforts to ensure the meals served are healthy, nutritious, and enjoyable for students. Secretary Vilsack participated in a child nutrition panel discussion and met with high school students from the Future Farmers of America program at Clear Lake High School on March 25, 2024, in Clear Lake, Iowa. USDA media by Cecilia Lynch
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack participated in a panel discussion. From left to right: Vista Suarez Fletcher, Midwest Regional Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service, USDA; Andrea Evelsizer, Executive Director, Healthy Harvest of North Iowa; Peter Kraus, General Manager, Iowa Food Hub; Julie Udelhofen, Food Service Director, Clear Lake Schools; Secretary Vilsack; Rob Bisceglie, Executive Officer and President, Action for Healthy Kids; Jami Haberl, Executive Director, Iowa Healthiest State Initiative; Beth Rachut, Potato and Onion Growers, Kittleson Brothers; and Teresa Wiemerslage, Field Specialist, Farm, Food and Enterprise Development Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. Secretary Vilsack visited Clear Lake Community School District to recognize the district for its trailblazing and innovative efforts to improve the nutritional quality of meals for students. Earlier this month, the school district received a Healthy Meals Incentives Recognition Award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) through the Food and Nutrition Service for efforts to ensure the meals served are healthy, nutritious, and enjoyable for students. Secretary Vilsack participated in a child nutrition panel discussion and met with high school students from the Future Farmers of America program at Clear Lake High School on March 25, 2024, in Clear Lake, Iowa. USDA media by Cecilia Lynch
Theresa Greenfield, USDA Rural Development State Director in Iowa, spoke with stakeholders and panel participants following an event to highlight food and nutrition. From left to right: Theresa Greenfield; Jason Grimm, Farmer, Deputy Director, Iowa Valley Resource Conservation and Development; Beth Rachut, Potato and Onion Growers, Kittleson Brothers; and Teresa Wiemerslage, Field Specialist, Farm, Food and Enterprise Development Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack visited Clear Lake Community School District to recognize the district for its trailblazing and innovative efforts to improve the nutritional quality of meals for students. Earlier this month, the school district received a Healthy Meals Incentives Recognition Award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) through the Food and Nutrition Service for efforts to ensure the meals served are healthy, nutritious, and enjoyable for students. Secretary Vilsack participated in a child nutrition panel discussion and met with high school students from the Future Farmers of America program at Clear Lake High School on March 25, 2024, in Clear Lake, Iowa. USDA media by Cecilia Lynch
Employees or the Northwest Elementary School prepares lunch for students, Lebanon, Pa., Oct.. 17, 2024. As part of a larger update to the school nutrition standards announced earlier this year, USDA made it easier for schools to buy local foods. Beginning this school year (2024-2025), USDA instituted a policy change allowing schools to require foods to be locally grown, raised or caught when making purchases for their meal programs. The recently announced $500 million investment in Local Foods for Schools will encourage schools to leverage this new option to buy local.
To help empower schools in their efforts to improve meal quality and implement the updated meal standards, USDA invested $100 million to establish the Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative. Through this initiative, USDA provided $30 million in grants for small and/or rural school districts to help schools serve more nutritious meals by modernizing their operations. This is the largest targeted investment USDA has ever made for school meal programs in small and rural communities.
USDA will also provide a total of $50 million in grants to stimulate innovation in the school meals marketplace by incentivizing collaboration between schools, the food industry, and other stakeholders.
USDA is offering recognition awards to celebrate school districts that make improvements to the nutritional quality of their school meals and hosting summits for schools to highlight and share best practices for nutritious meal programs. (Lebanon SD is an HMI Recognition Awardee)
Nutritious school meals are a top priority for USDA and the Biden-Harris Administration, which have provided about $13.2 billion in extra financial support for schools since 2021 to ensure they have the resources they need to operate successful meal programs. School meals are a vital source of nutrition for about 30 million children nationwide, giving them the fuel they need to grow, learn and thrive. This is in addition to per meal reimbursements schools receive for serving balanced meals to kids during the school day.
USDA is also committed to increasing access to school meals to ensure all children are set up for success in the classroom and beyond. Advancing a pathway to free healthy school meals for all is a priority of the Biden-Harris Administration’s White House National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition and Health. Investments in Local, Domestic Foods
Since 2021, USDA has provided a boost of nearly $4.8 billion for school meal programs to purchase domestic, unprocessed foods. Of that, nearly $700 million – including the recently-announced $500 million investment – is through the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program. This program is specifically for procuring local and regionally sourced foods with an emphasis on purchases from historically underserved producers.
In addition to providing schools greater access to nutritious, local foods for their meal programs, this funding creates new market opportunities for producers as well as jobs and opportunities in local communities.
The supply chain for school meal programs is strongest when schools have relationships with local suppliers. The result is a stronger, fairer, more resilient local food chain for schools.
Farm to school activities – such as serving local foods in school, growing a school garden, tasting new foods and visiting local farms – provide experiential learning for children, support American farmers and producers, boost nutrition in school meals and more.
The new USDA Farm to School Census reports that 74% of schools served local foods during school year 2022-2023.
Other key findings include:
· School districts that purchased local spent about $1.8 billion on local foods, roughly 16% of their total food spending.
· Participation in farm to school activities has grown by 14% since the 2019 Farm to School Census.
· School districts with a high percent of students receiving free or reduced-price meals are as likely to participate in farm to school as lower-need school districts.
In 2024, USDA invested a record-breaking $14.3 million in Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grants, supporting projects that will touch 1.9 million children across the nation. USDA awarded grants to 154 projects in 43 states, DC, Guam and Puerto Rico. This brings the total investment in these grants to $48 million since January 2021 and $98 million since the program’s inception in 2013. (USDA photo by Christophe Paul)
With only four ingredients, you can make a rich and creamy chicken and noodle meal using a crock-pot or slow cooker. catalinalinkava.wordpress.com/2014/01/17/chicken-recipe-c...
Following a panel discussion, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack spoke with Gretta Irwin, Executive Director, Iowa Turkey Federation. Secretary Vilsack visited Clear Lake Community School District to recognize the district for its trailblazing and innovative efforts to improve the nutritional quality of meals for students. Earlier this month, the school district received a Healthy Meals Incentives Recognition Award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) through the Food and Nutrition Service for efforts to ensure the meals served are healthy, nutritious, and enjoyable for students. Secretary Vilsack participated in a child nutrition panel discussion and met with high school students from the Future Farmers of America program at Clear Lake High School on March 25, 2024, in Clear Lake, Iowa. USDA media by Cecilia Lynch
Christie Vilsack, educator and literacy advocate and spouse of U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, spoke with Dan Cutler, Food Service, Clear Lake School District, following an event to highlight food and nutrition. Secretary Vilsack visited Clear Lake Community School District to recognize the district for its trailblazing and innovative efforts to improve the nutritional quality of meals for students. Earlier this month, the school district received a Healthy Meals Incentives Recognition Award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) through the Food and Nutrition Service for efforts to ensure the meals served are healthy, nutritious, and enjoyable for students. Secretary Vilsack participated in a child nutrition panel discussion and met with high school students from the Future Farmers of America program at Clear Lake High School on March 25, 2024, in Clear Lake, Iowa. USDA media by Cecilia Lynch
You can find a large number of full-resolution photos under a Creative Commons license on my official website: nenadstojkovicart.com/albums
Employees or the Northwest Elementary School prepares lunch for students, Lebanon, Pa., Oct.. 17, 2024. As part of a larger update to the school nutrition standards announced earlier this year, USDA made it easier for schools to buy local foods. Beginning this school year (2024-2025), USDA instituted a policy change allowing schools to require foods to be locally grown, raised or caught when making purchases for their meal programs. The recently announced $500 million investment in Local Foods for Schools will encourage schools to leverage this new option to buy local.
To help empower schools in their efforts to improve meal quality and implement the updated meal standards, USDA invested $100 million to establish the Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative. Through this initiative, USDA provided $30 million in grants for small and/or rural school districts to help schools serve more nutritious meals by modernizing their operations. This is the largest targeted investment USDA has ever made for school meal programs in small and rural communities.
USDA will also provide a total of $50 million in grants to stimulate innovation in the school meals marketplace by incentivizing collaboration between schools, the food industry, and other stakeholders.
USDA is offering recognition awards to celebrate school districts that make improvements to the nutritional quality of their school meals and hosting summits for schools to highlight and share best practices for nutritious meal programs. (Lebanon SD is an HMI Recognition Awardee)
Nutritious school meals are a top priority for USDA and the Biden-Harris Administration, which have provided about $13.2 billion in extra financial support for schools since 2021 to ensure they have the resources they need to operate successful meal programs. School meals are a vital source of nutrition for about 30 million children nationwide, giving them the fuel they need to grow, learn and thrive. This is in addition to per meal reimbursements schools receive for serving balanced meals to kids during the school day.
USDA is also committed to increasing access to school meals to ensure all children are set up for success in the classroom and beyond. Advancing a pathway to free healthy school meals for all is a priority of the Biden-Harris Administration’s White House National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition and Health. Investments in Local, Domestic Foods
Since 2021, USDA has provided a boost of nearly $4.8 billion for school meal programs to purchase domestic, unprocessed foods. Of that, nearly $700 million – including the recently-announced $500 million investment – is through the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program. This program is specifically for procuring local and regionally sourced foods with an emphasis on purchases from historically underserved producers.
In addition to providing schools greater access to nutritious, local foods for their meal programs, this funding creates new market opportunities for producers as well as jobs and opportunities in local communities.
The supply chain for school meal programs is strongest when schools have relationships with local suppliers. The result is a stronger, fairer, more resilient local food chain for schools.
Farm to school activities – such as serving local foods in school, growing a school garden, tasting new foods and visiting local farms – provide experiential learning for children, support American farmers and producers, boost nutrition in school meals and more.
The new USDA Farm to School Census reports that 74% of schools served local foods during school year 2022-2023.
Other key findings include:
· School districts that purchased local spent about $1.8 billion on local foods, roughly 16% of their total food spending.
· Participation in farm to school activities has grown by 14% since the 2019 Farm to School Census.
· School districts with a high percent of students receiving free or reduced-price meals are as likely to participate in farm to school as lower-need school districts.
In 2024, USDA invested a record-breaking $14.3 million in Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grants, supporting projects that will touch 1.9 million children across the nation. USDA awarded grants to 154 projects in 43 states, DC, Guam and Puerto Rico. This brings the total investment in these grants to $48 million since January 2021 and $98 million since the program’s inception in 2013. (USDA photo by Christophe Paul)
Employees or the Northwest Elementary School prepares lunch for students, Lebanon, Pa., Oct.. 17, 2024. As part of a larger update to the school nutrition standards announced earlier this year, USDA made it easier for schools to buy local foods. Beginning this school year (2024-2025), USDA instituted a policy change allowing schools to require foods to be locally grown, raised or caught when making purchases for their meal programs. The recently announced $500 million investment in Local Foods for Schools will encourage schools to leverage this new option to buy local.
To help empower schools in their efforts to improve meal quality and implement the updated meal standards, USDA invested $100 million to establish the Healthy Meals Incentives Initiative. Through this initiative, USDA provided $30 million in grants for small and/or rural school districts to help schools serve more nutritious meals by modernizing their operations. This is the largest targeted investment USDA has ever made for school meal programs in small and rural communities.
USDA will also provide a total of $50 million in grants to stimulate innovation in the school meals marketplace by incentivizing collaboration between schools, the food industry, and other stakeholders.
USDA is offering recognition awards to celebrate school districts that make improvements to the nutritional quality of their school meals and hosting summits for schools to highlight and share best practices for nutritious meal programs. (Lebanon SD is an HMI Recognition Awardee)
Nutritious school meals are a top priority for USDA and the Biden-Harris Administration, which have provided about $13.2 billion in extra financial support for schools since 2021 to ensure they have the resources they need to operate successful meal programs. School meals are a vital source of nutrition for about 30 million children nationwide, giving them the fuel they need to grow, learn and thrive. This is in addition to per meal reimbursements schools receive for serving balanced meals to kids during the school day.
USDA is also committed to increasing access to school meals to ensure all children are set up for success in the classroom and beyond. Advancing a pathway to free healthy school meals for all is a priority of the Biden-Harris Administration’s White House National Strategy on Hunger, Nutrition and Health. Investments in Local, Domestic Foods
Since 2021, USDA has provided a boost of nearly $4.8 billion for school meal programs to purchase domestic, unprocessed foods. Of that, nearly $700 million – including the recently-announced $500 million investment – is through the Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program. This program is specifically for procuring local and regionally sourced foods with an emphasis on purchases from historically underserved producers.
In addition to providing schools greater access to nutritious, local foods for their meal programs, this funding creates new market opportunities for producers as well as jobs and opportunities in local communities.
The supply chain for school meal programs is strongest when schools have relationships with local suppliers. The result is a stronger, fairer, more resilient local food chain for schools.
Farm to school activities – such as serving local foods in school, growing a school garden, tasting new foods and visiting local farms – provide experiential learning for children, support American farmers and producers, boost nutrition in school meals and more.
The new USDA Farm to School Census reports that 74% of schools served local foods during school year 2022-2023.
Other key findings include:
· School districts that purchased local spent about $1.8 billion on local foods, roughly 16% of their total food spending.
· Participation in farm to school activities has grown by 14% since the 2019 Farm to School Census.
· School districts with a high percent of students receiving free or reduced-price meals are as likely to participate in farm to school as lower-need school districts.
In 2024, USDA invested a record-breaking $14.3 million in Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grants, supporting projects that will touch 1.9 million children across the nation. USDA awarded grants to 154 projects in 43 states, DC, Guam and Puerto Rico. This brings the total investment in these grants to $48 million since January 2021 and $98 million since the program’s inception in 2013. (USDA photo by Christophe Paul)
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack spoke with reporters following an event to highlight food and nutrition. Secretary Vilsack visited Clear Lake Community School District to recognize the district for its trailblazing and innovative efforts to improve the nutritional quality of meals for students. Earlier this month, the school district received a Healthy Meals Incentives Recognition Award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) through the Food and Nutrition Service for efforts to ensure the meals served are healthy, nutritious, and enjoyable for students. Secretary Vilsack participated in a child nutrition panel discussion and met with high school students from the Future Farmers of America program at Clear Lake High School on March 25, 2024, in Clear Lake, Iowa. USDA media by Cecilia Lynch