Farm to School Legislation Advances
Posted on June 1, 2016
In January, the Senate Agriculture Committee advanced bipartisan legislation authored by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) to double funding for the federal Farm To School grant program as part of a larger package reauthorizing child nutrition programs through 2020. Leahy, a leading member of both the Agriculture Committee and the Appropriations Committee, and a former chairman of the Agriculture panel, is the author of the existing Farm to School program, which he championed in the Healthy and Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010.
Leahy said: “The Improving Child Nutrition Integrity and Access Act is an important step forward as we look to support communities and children by offering universal school meals, expanding summer mealsand implementing farm to school programs. At a time when obesity rates among our kids continue to rise, we need to do more to educate families and their children about the value of healthy, nutritious lifestyles and choices. One of the best places to do that is in our schools, where we know students form the foundations of lifelong eating habits.”