Locally Grown Food in School Lunch Programs

Both the farmers and kids seem to like this idea. According to the Madison WI program's website even the USDA is being supportive and, "By helping school districts buy food from local growers, such programs can substantially increase the nutritional value of children's lunches and teach eating habits dependent on less heavily processed foods. At the same time, such a program helps provide a reliable market for local small and mid-sized farmers".

Earthwatch Radio recently reported that "...More than 400 innovative programs bring locally grown food into school lunch rooms across the United States. Doug Wubben coordinates one of them, the Wisconsin Homegrown Lunch Project in Madison". Mr. Wubben is quoted as saying that: "One meal that we had last November involved a vegetable chicken fajita wrap, a muffin that was made with sweet potatoes, an apple from a local orchard, and the kids' milk. And that went to over 7,000 students for one meal, and that resulted in 2,000 dollars worth of sales of produce to local farmers, and that's just one meal".

This TreeHugger would have promised to eat every bean and pea on his plate if (as a kid) school lunches served corn on the cob for the first three weeks of school.