Oklahoma Farm-to-School News:
Sun April 20, 2008
The Daily Oklahoman recently
published a question-and-answer session with Chris Kirby, the Farm
to School Coordinator at the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture,
Food, and Forestry.
Read
interview
Oklahoma Farm-to-School Initiative Wins State and National
Honors
Winter 2008
The Farm-to-School Initiative of the Kerr Center and the Oklahoma
Food Policy Council received the 2007 "Champion of Children's
Health" award Oct. 8 at an awards banquet in Oklahoma City.
Read Press Release
Read Newsletter Story
Kerr Center to Lead Regional Farm-to-School Effort
Fall 2007
Because of its success in establishing a farm-to-school
program in Oklahoma, the
Kerr Center has been chosen to be the lead agency for the Midwest
(Oklahoma,
Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, North and South Dakota) in the
new National
Farm-to-School Network. Currently Oklahoma and Iowa are the only
two
states in the region with farm-to-school programs.
The Center's Anita Poole will work with partners in the various
states. Priorities include initiating food policy councils, evaluating
barriers to farm to school, providing survey materials, joint media
and marketing efforts, and training/networking.
For more information
go to www.farmtoschool.org.
Full Speed Ahead for Farm-to-School Program
Fall 2006
 |
| Left-right. Kerr Center president Dr. Jim Horne,
Fit Kids Coalition chair Stanley Hupfeld, and OICA Executive
Director Anne Roberts at the Fit Kids Coalition meeting Feb.
22, 2005 at the Oklahoma state capitol. |
Oklahoma’s statewide farm-to-school program enters its second
year as an official program of the state agriculture department this
fall, with more schools than ever before serving up fresh Oklahoma-grown
watermelons and honeydew melons in their cafeterias.
The four-year effort to establish a statewide farm-to-school program
in Oklahoma reached fruition on June 7, 2006, when Governor Brad
Henry signed legislation creating the Oklahoma Farm-to-School program.
Two initial bills supporting farm-to-school efforts in Oklahoma
passed in the Oklahoma legislature in March. Senate
Bill 1515, authored
by Sen. Daisy Lawler, D-Comanche, passed unanimously March 2. House
Bill 2655, authored by Rep. Susan Winchester, R-Chickasha, passed
99-1 on March 6.
The bills were consolidated into HB 2655 which was
passed by the Oklahoma House on May 22 and the Oklahoma Senate on
May 25. Both votes were unanimous.
One goal of farm-to-school programs is to provide, fresh, high-quality,
locally-grown fruits and vegetables to school cafeterias.
Another is to get kids excited about healthy eating through nutrition lessons
coordinated with the fresh fruits and vegetables served for lunch. Other effective
farm-to-school activities include school gardens, Ag-in-the-Classroom activities,
farm visits, and cooking classes.
Researchers have found that farm-to-school programs improve children’s
nutrition.
The Oklahoma Senate bill encourages school districts to “purchase…locally
and regionally produced foods in order to improve child nutrition
and strengthen local and regional farm economies.”
It also creates a farm-to-school program within the Oklahoma Department
of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, with Chris Kirby filling the new
position of Program Coordinator. The Program Coordinator’s
job is to develop the program statewide by providing information
and assistance to both farmers and school food service directors.
The director also advises state agencies on what is needed to make
the program a success.
The program also educates children about agriculture and nutrition
and could include field trips to area farms.
“This a win-win bill for helping our kids with better health
and nutrition and for rural economic development,” said Sen.
Lawler. “Our initial pilot
program was a resounding
success and surveys of
school districts throughout the state tell us they’re very
enthusiastic about this concept.”
“Our students’ diets could be drastically improved
adding fresh fruits and vegetables into our school menus. Lack of
healthy fruits and vegetables in a child’s daily diet contributes
to the massive youth obesity and juvenile diabetes epidemics in our
state, “said Rep. Winchester.
The successful two-year farm-to-school pilot program was organized
by the Oklahoma Food Policy Council,
a joint project of the Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture
and the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry.
In 2004, four school districts—Edmond, Broken Arrow, Shawnee,
and Tahlequah—served Oklahoma-grown watermelons to students
at the beginning of the school year. In 2005, two more school districts,
Tulsa and Muskogee, participated in the program.
In the fall of 2006, the number of participating schools rose
to 343, in a total of 35 districts. For 2007, even more schools
are participating in the rapidly expanding program.
At the end of 2005, Sen. Lawler established an interim study of
farm-to-school. Speakers familiar with the Oklahoma program
as well as farm-to-school advocates from outside Oklahoma testified
at the capitol.
During the first interim hearing, Dr. Jim Horne, president and
CEO of the Kerr Center, said farm to school is “a way to
help encourage better nutrition and to get parents actively involved
in supporting better nutrition in schools. But it also will get
our farmers interested.”
During the hearing, Anne Roberts, Executive Director of the Oklahoma
Institute for Child Advocacy, said one of the top health
issues for the state's young people was obesity. Roberts told
the committee that in 2004, Oklahoma ranked 13th in the nation
in adult obesity with an 11.1 percent of Oklahoma high school
students considered overweight with another 14.2 percent at risk
for being overweight.
She also said that when it comes to consuming five or more fruits
or vegetables a day, Oklahomans rank last in the nation.
Roberts,
who also represent the Oklahoma Fit Kids Coalition, said farm-to-school
had worked in other states to help provide better nutrition for
children and reduce obesity rates. She supports expansion of existing
farm-to-school programs to serve more children.
In recent months,
establishment of an expanded statewide farm-to-school program was
endorsed by the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy as well as
the Fit
Kids Coalition.
Both organizations are influential advocates of children’s
health.
The Fit Kids Coalition is a grass roots association of more than
90 organizations. The organization supports efforts to fight childhood
obesity in Oklahoma. The coalition has lobbied successfully for
school vending machine reform, Healthy Schools committees and more
hours of physical education in the schools.
During a Feb. 22, 2005 press conference announcing the Fit Kids
legislative agenda for 2005, Fit Kids chairman Stanley Hupfeld,
CEO of Integris Health in Oklahoma City, said that the quickest
way to positively affect change in children’s
health is through the schools.
Kerr Center president Jim Horne spoke of the excitement of opening
a dialogue about farm-to-school with the Fit Kids coalition and
others interested in children’s
health.
“We come at farm-to-school from a rural development perspective,” he
said. “And we appreciate the support of Fit Kids and look forward to building
a rapport [through farm-to-school] that’s long been missing between urban
America and rural America.”
 This
project is supported by the Community Food Projects Program of the USDA
Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, grant # 2004-33800-15141
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits
discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis
of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable,
sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion,
sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal,
or because all or a part of an individual's income is derived from
any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply
to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative
means for communication of program information (Braille, large
print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA's TARGET Center at
(202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD).
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