Governor Andrew M. Cuomo on Feb. 18 announced that New York State has awarded $1.5 million to 16 Farm-to-School program projects to increase the use of New York farm products in schools and boost the state’s agricultural economy. As part of Round 5 of the Farm-to-School program, the projects will benefit more than 120,000 students […]
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo on Feb. 18 announced that New York State has awarded $1.5 million to 16 Farm-to-School program projects to increase the use of New York farm products in schools and boost the state’s agricultural economy.
As part of Round 5 of the Farm-to-School program, the projects will benefit more than 120,000 students in 144 school districts across the Empire State.
Funding recipients will use the funding to hire Farm-to-School program coordinators; train food-service staff; provide nutrition education in classrooms and cafeterias; buy equipment to support food preparation; and support the purchase of more local farm products, such as fruits and vegetables, dairy, and beef to be served in school lunches. The organizations receiving Farm-to-School program grant funding include these two in the North Country:
• Cornell Cooperative Extension of Lewis County (CCE Lewis): Received $99,849 for the Farm-to-School program launch in Lewis County. The project will allow the hire of a Farm-to-School program coordinator to implement the 3 Cs of Farm-to-School: the cafeteria, the classroom, and the community — benefiting 3,957 students in five school districts.
• St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES: $99,980 for the St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES Farm-to-School Program. The project provides value-added processing, technical assistance, and product distribution to 21 schools — benefiting 25,000 students.
Other Farm-to-School projects in upstate New York receiving funding included the Broome-Tioga BOCES Farm-to-School Warehouse Initiative and the Oneida-Herkimer-Madison BOCES Farm-to-School: Increasing Capacity and School Engagement project, according to the state.
The Farm-to-School program increases the volume and variety of locally grown and produced food in schools, provides new markets for New York’s farmers, improves student health, and educates young people about agriculture, the state government contends.