Our neighbours to the south, National Farm to School Network, and the Center for Agriculture and Food Systems at Vermont Law School are pleased to announce the release of the updated State Farm to School Policy Handbook: 2002-2020! The Handbook summarizes and analyzes all 546 farm to school bills and resolutions introduced between 2002 and 2020 from the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories. It enables readers to search bills by both jurisdiction and topic, and includes analysis of state policy trends, case studies, advocacy resources and more.
What’s new in this edition? In addition to highlighting policies that support the three core elements of farm to school and ECE – local procurement, school gardens, and food and agriculture education – this edition of the Handbook also spotlights policy opportunities for supporting universal school meals, supporting BIPOC producers, and those that supported farm to school responses to COVID-19.
State-level farm to school policy is driving a broader expansion of farm to school across the US. Simply put, strong laws facilitate strong programs. The State Farm to School Policy Handbook is designed to offer farm to school advocates a roadmap to learn about and compare existing, potentially replicable state farm to school laws, policies and programs in order to advance new legislation in your state. While developed for the US context, there’s lots for us to learn from the US experience and NFSN’s leadership of farm to school here in Canada, too. Read more about this new resource on their blog, and dig in to start exploring the opportunities!
