New Food Processor Job To Bring More Local Foods to School Cafeterias

Go to http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/news05/new-food-processor-job-created-to-bring-more-local-food-to-school-cafeterias-20180405 to check out the story.

State Kicks Off 2016 Big Apple Crunch

From the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets:

State Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Ball Thursday Oct. 20 joined the 2016 Big Apple Crunch in New York City, sponsored by the FarmOn! Foundation, an agriculture-focused non-profit supporting educational youth programming.  

The Big Apple Crunch is an annual event that celebrates New York state agriculture and promotes New York’s apple producers through food and nutrition education across the State.

Ball, joined by the commissioner of the state Department of Health and representatives from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, FarmOn! Foundation and New York City SchoolFood, helped lead dozens of middle school students and staff from Public School 96 in taking a bite out of a New York state grown apple.  

The “crunch” followed an announcement of the expansion of the NY Thursdays program in schools across New York City.  NY Thursdays kicked off last year and features locally grown and produced foods on school menus. This year, the program has expanded to include New York State produced beef.

In addition to the event held at PS 96, dozens of Big Apple Crunch events were held throughout New York City and across the state. The New York Apple Association joined the NYC Food Policy Center at Hunter College for a Big Apple Crunch at La Marqueta.  

The event brought together hundreds of children to take part in fun and educational activities, and wrapped up with a record-breaking Big Apple Crunch. The event also featured activity centers with apple art, games, tastings and nutrition education led by East Harlem organizations and small businesses.

In Albany, the state Education Department Senior Deputy Commissioner Jhone Ebert and Assistant Commissioner for Student Support Services Renee Rider joined more than 50 staff members from the department's Office of Child Nutrition on the front steps of the State Education Building this morning for the Big Apple Crunch.  

They got into the spirit, simultaneously biting into locally grown, New York state apples to celebrate National Food Day and promote New York state food and farms.

Created through a partnership of GrowNYC and the NYC Office of Food Policy in 2012 and sponsored by the FarmOn! Foundation, the Big Apple Crunch originated as a way to celebrate National Food Day. 

In the first year of the event, about 400,000 New Yorkers bit into locally grown New York State apples at the same time in a universal call to action to raise awareness about supporting local agriculture. 

Since its inception, the annual Big Apple Crunch has expanded its reach, breaking a world record in 2015 with one million New Yorkers participating in the crunch.

This year, FarmOn! Foundation called on all New Yorkers to take the Big Apple Crunch Challenge and pledge to eat locally by participating in the Big Apple Crunch. 

For additional incentive to support the cause, crunchers who submit a #BigAppleCrunchChallenge video on social media can win $1,000 towards a FarmOn! Victory Garden, which will help bring fresh produce and educational opportunities to a school of their choosing.

'Fall Into Farm-to-School' Campaign Begins in NYS

From the state Department of Agriculture and Markets:

State Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Ball on Thursday Oct. 6 announced the ‘Fall into Farm-to-School’ campaign to encourage school districts across New York state to participate in the Farm-to-School program, which helps schools buy and serve locally-grown and produced foods on school menus. 

Throughout the month of October, schools are encouraged to learn more about starting the program in their district through the Farm-to-School website and related resources found http://www.agriculture.ny.gov/Press%20Releases/HOM_Toolkit.pdf, http://www.fns.usda.gov/farmtoschool/farm-school and http://www.farmtoschool.org/. 

Districts already participating in the program are encouraged to share how they are celebrating Farm-to-School Month using the #FallintoF2S on social media.

Farm to You Fest

Farm-to-School Month is highlighted by the annual Farm to You Fest held Oct. 3 to 8. 

Farm to You Fest is a week-long annual celebration of local food and agriculture. During the promotion, school officials, parents, nutritionists, farmers and others are encouraged to organize fun and educational activities focused on New York agriculture. 

To celebrate, many schools feature New York farm products on their school lunch menus, hold taste tests of locally-grown fruits and vegetables, take field trips to nearby farms, conduct hands-on cooking demonstrations using local ingredients, and much more.  

New York State Farm-to-School Efforts

New York state’s Farm-to-School program is aimed at developing and strengthening relationships between farmers and schools to increase the amount of New York-made products offered to students and to expand markets for local farmers. 

The program also looks to educate students about New York’s specialty crops and increase their preference for these healthy meal options.

Since 2015, New York state has provided $850,000 for its Farm-to-School grant program, including $500,000 announced this past September, a nearly 43 percent increase over last year. 

Kindergarten through grade 12 school food authorities, charter schools, nonprofit schools, other nonprofit entities and Indian Tribal Organizations may apply for this funding to increase their use of homegrown specialty crops. 

Last year, six Farm-to-School programs in the state were awarded funds, benefiting 45 school districts and thousands of students. The funding helped the districts employ local or regional Farm-to-School coordinators, purchase equipment needed to increase the capacity of the school kitchen and food service staff, and make capital improvements to better transport and/or store those crops. 

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the average New York State school district spends 11 percent of its budget on local foods. To date, those schools have invested more than $45 million, with the majority being used to buy New York fruits, vegetables, and milk.

The New York State Office of General Services also recently announced that school districts across the state have made a commitment to dedicate at least $2.5 million in U.S. Department of Agriculture funds toward the federal agency’s Pilot Project for the Procurement of Unprocessed Fruits and Vegetables during the 2016-17 school year. 

This investment represents a 400 percent increase over the $500,000 commitment by schools in 2015-16.

 
The state has also been a key partner in the New York Thursdays program, a new approach to bringing locally grown or produced foods directly to students in New York City Department of Education schools every Thursday. 

Part of a nationwide initiative being spearheaded by the Urban School Food Alliance, New York Thursdays boosts student health and education, while improving the district’s budget, strengthening the local agricultural economy, and cutting carbon emissions. 

The state Department of Agriculture and Markets is working to bring a similar program to schools throughout the state. 

As Schools Buy More Local Food, Kids Throw Less Food in the Trash

Interesting story from NPR.

Check it out at http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/10/20/450294392/as-schools-buy-more-local-food-kids-throw-less-food-in-the-trash?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=2045 this link.

Funding Available to Help School Districts Put Local Food in School Cafeterias

A new funding opportunity has been announced to help school districts across New York state connect to local growers and producers to increase the use of locally grown specialty crops. 

Through the Farm to School program, $350,000 in grants is now available for projects that will help pre-K through grade 12 schools procure and serve healthy, locally grown foods on school menus.

The deadline to apply is 4:30 p.m. Oct. 19. Awards will be made in November 2015.

The Farm to School program is aimed at developing and strengthening connections between farms and schools to help grow the agricultural economy and increase the amount and variety of specialty crops procured by schools for healthier meal options. 

New York state produces a wide range of specialty crops, such as fruits and vegetables, dried fruits, herbs and spices, which rank highly in the nation in terms of both production and economic value.

Applicants for the program can include Pre-K through 12 school food authorities, charter schools, not-for-profit schools, and other entities participating in the National School Lunch or Breakfast Programs and/or operating Summer Food Service Programs.
Projects eligible for grant funding across New York’s school districts may include:

** Employing of a local or regional farm to school coordinator.
** Training programs for food service staff to increase knowledge of local procurement and preparation of locally produced specialty crops.
** Purchase of equipment needed to increase capacity of school kitchen and food service staff to prepare and serve locally produced specialty crops.
** Capital improvements to support the transport and/or storage of locally produced specialty crops.
The commissioners from the state Departments of Agriculture and Markets, Health and the Office of General Services joined leaders from the New York Apple Association, Farm Fresh First, Empire Potato Growers and New York State Vegetable Growers Association, Brockport School District and the New York City School Support Services, to discuss increasing the procurement of New York state food products in New York’s more than 700 schools. 

The discussion centered on the growers’ delivery system and the school districts’ needs and purchasing process, and how to make it easier to bring the two together.

For more information on the Farm to School Grant program, click on this link -- http://www.agriculture.ny.gov/RFPS.html .

All applicants must register and apply through the Grants Gateway portal at this link https://grantsgateway.ny.gov/IntelliGrants_NYSGG/module/nysgg/goportal.aspx and use the Program Identifier "FTSCG."