In the News

MOUNT VERNON — The Washington Sustainable Food & Farming Network, a Mount Vernon-based agricultural advocacy organization, recently received a $88,444 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help jump-start purchases of fresh local produce by schools.

Executive Director Ellen Gray said the two-year grant will partially support three staff members who will help facilitate purchases of fresh, locally grown produce in 12 school districts: eight in Whatcom County and four in Central Washington.

The goal is to increase funds spent on local produce by 25 to 50 percent, Gray said.

“The schools are definitely interested in supporting local farms, they are just under time and budget and sometimes labor constraints,” Gray said.

Staff supported by the grant will work to educate school food service workers on what crops are available at different times of the year to guide menu planning. Taste tests led by farmers or staff will introduce kids to local fruits and vegetables.

On the producers’ side, farmers interested in selling to schools can learn more about what kinds of produce schools want and how to process them for ease of use, Gray said.

Connecting both parties to food hubs, such as those in Bow and Everson, will help both parties buy and sell in bulk, Gray said. She said there is still a great need for local food-processing infrastructure to support bulk sales.

“Once we get these relationships built and this infrastructure in place, school districts will start to buy fresh produce from local farmers,” Gray said.

Gray said the program utilized local match funding and focused on schools that already use some local food procurement programs.

The project was one of 82 that received support through the USDA’s Farm to School Program.

“As schools do more to provide healthy, nutritious food for students, we should do everything possible to help them take advantage of the amazing fresh fruits and vegetables grown by our local farmers,” said U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., in a news release from the advocacy agency. “The funds announced today will support successful programs that help connect local farmers with school districts eager to serve our students fresh, healthy, locally grown food.”