Support Children’s Health and Local Family Farmers … At the same time!
Endorse federal Farm to School legislation today! Urge your Representative to co-sponsor the Upton-Kind Act The Community Food Security Coalition's American Farms Feed America's Children Act In the House: Upton-Kind Farm to Cafeteria Projects Act HR 2626 In the Senate: Child Nutrition Initiatives Act S. 995 Representatives Fred Upton (R-MI) and Ron Kind (D-WI) have recently introduced legislation into the House that will provide important new support for schools to purchase food from local farmers. The Upton-Kind Farm to Cafeteria Projects Act (HR 2626) will provide $10 million to schools and community groups for farm to school projects. Virtually identical legislation was introduced into the Senate by Senator Leahy (D-VT) as S. 995 (Sec. 102) We need your support now to help gain passage of this landmark legislation! Background: As Congress begins to debate Child Nutrition Programs, the country has been riveted by news of the problem of obesity and preventable nutritional disease in children and the important role that the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act can play in combating this problem. Both S. 995 and HR 2626 address this crisis with a modest program to bring locally-grown fresh fruits and vegetables into school cafeterias through collaborations of farmers, schools, and community organizations. At the same time, small and medium size farms are struggling to find profitable markets for their products. These farmers largely do not benefit from federal farm and food programs, including nutrition programs. Yet, with the removal of certain barriers, farmers can market their fresh foods directly to local schools. Successful farm to school projects are beginning to emerge, demonstrating that children's diets improve rapidly through connecting experiential nutrition education with the fruits and vegetables produced by local farmers. Farmers not only strengthen their markets, but become more involved with their local schools. What these bills do: Building on these successes, HR 2626 and S. 995 (section 102) create a win-win situation for kids, farmers, and communities. These bills, if enacted, authorize $10 million annually for funds of up to $100,000 to assist with the initial costs of a farm to school project. The Leahy bill is preferable in that it provides for long term committed funding. The grants will be used to purchase adequate equipment to store and prepare fresh foods, develop food procurement relationships with nearby farmers, plan seasonal menus and promotional materials, and develop experiential nutrition education related to agriculture. Why it's important These bills focus on connecting local agriculture to schools in every state, through a competitive, one-time and matching grant directly to local communities. This allows each locality to design a farm to cafeteria project tailored to specific farm and school community needs. This proposal supports innovation at the local level without creating new administrative burdens on either schools or farmers. Experience has shown that kids' food choices can be improved by connecting farms to the lunchroom. This program directly benefits the food, and health needs of our nation's most vulnerable citizens-- our nutritionally at-risk children. At the same time, the program will help family farms, providing markets and community support for agriculture. For more information, contact the CFSC's Washington office at 202-543-8602. A full copy of the text of these bills is on our website at www.foodsecurity.org A copy of a sign-on letter urging representatives to become co-sponsors of the Upton-Kind bill will be on our website at www.foodsecurity.org by the afternoon of July 9th. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- __Yes! Our organization endorses the passage of the Upton-Kind Farm to Cafeteria Projects Act HR 2626 and the Leahy Child Nutrition Initiatives Act S. 995 (section 102) ___ Yes! Our organization will sign on to the letter urging co-sponsorship of the Upton-Kind Farm to Cafeteria Projects Act HR 2626. Name: Organization: Address City: State: Zip: Phone: E-mail: Congress is moving quickly! Please sign on by Wednesday July 16. Our goal is to have 100 groups in 30 states by then. Return this form by fax to the Community Food Security Coalition at 310-822-1440, or e-mail your response to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For questions, contact Thomas Forster at 202-543-8602, or Marion Kalb at 530-756-8518 x 32.
F2S National Sign-on.rtf
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