New School Food Legislation Tied To "Locally Grown" AND Expanded Funding Opportunities For Healthier School Food !

NJ Farm To School has been a leading advocate for NJ Farmers and School Food Legislation since 2008.  Their recent newsletter highlights some of the recent activity with fabulous, BREAK THRU news on that front - FIVE farm to school bills and one joint resolution to support the farm to school movement in this state have been introduced with bi-partisan support ! These follow another school food related bill that was announced last month allowing food produced in local community gardens to be served to school children after meeting certain criteria http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2012/Bills/S3000/2561_R1.PDF

Also, don't miss the announcement included in the NJF2S newsletter from the USDA, expanding funding to school districts thru their grants program which capitalizes on and financially supports, the new connection between the National School Lunch Program and local fresh food producers - expanded grants program provides training, planning and implementation funding to school districts!

"Connecting American farmers and ranchers with the National School Lunch Program provides schoolchildren with daily access to locally sourced, healthy foods," said Vilsack. "These Farm to School grants will help schools respond to the growing demand for local foods and increase market opportunities for many types of food producers."

More information here -

http://www.njfarmtoschool.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/02-2014NJF2S_News.html

These grants help eligible schools improve the health and wellbeing of their students and connect with local agricultural producers.