USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan announced a new initiative last week aimed at better connecting kids to the sources of their food. In announcing the new Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food initiative, Deputy Secretary Merrigan and the USDA also hope that the effort will create opportunities for local farmers to provide their harvest to schools in their communities.

Mentioned prominently by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack at the Washington Public Policy Conference earlier this month, the initiative will make $50 million available for schools to buy local produce. The 2008 Farm Bill gave the department new flexibilities to procure local fresh fruits and vegetables for the school lunch program. Using that flexibility, USDA is proposing that schools now be able to arrange to buy fresh produce grown locally through their state agencies.

"Any program that helps to provide schools with the ability to provide students with fresh, healthy fruits and vegetables is certainly a step forward," said United Vice President of Nutrition and Health Dr. Lorelei DiSogra. "We've been excited about this program ever since Secretary Vilsack told our members about it earlier this month, and it's great to see it come to fruition."

USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) and Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) will team together and form 'Farm to School Tactical Teams' to assist school administrators as they transition to purchasing more locally grown foods. The teams will work with local farmers, local and state authorities, school districts, and community partners to develop Farm-To-School projects and provide assistance on the best ways to buy more local produce for the National School Lunch Program.

"It is important that our children have access to healthy, nutritious food and our focus on enabling schools to purchase local produce will provide opportunities for local producers," said Merrigan in a statement. "This will enable greater wealth creation in communities by allowing producers to build their capacity by serving local institutional customers like schools."

Additionally, the agencies will issue updated common-sense purchasing guidance to schools so they can buy fresh, locally grown produce for students eating through USDA's school nutrition programs, as well as common-sense guidelines for schools to procure food. To date, the department has allowed only minimal processing of regional fruits and vegetables purchased for our school meals programs. USDA will now allow additional processing like cutting or slicing, and will work to fashion policies that will allow year-round produce in areas with short growing seasons.

For more information on the Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food initiative, please click here.