Public Investment in Farm to School – New Report and Case Studies Released

Mass. Farm to School is pleased to announce the release of two new resources “Public Investment in Farm to School: Lessons from State Policies” and a complementary set of case studies titled “The Benefits of Farm to School: Economic, Health, and Educational Impacts in Three Massachusetts Districts.”

Download the Report

Download the Case Studies

The case studies highlight three school districts – Chicopee, Somerville, and Webster – with very different but successful farm to school programs and demonstrate the impact small investments can have on catalyzing new farm to school activity.

The report summarizes research conducted by MFTS in 2018 on state level policies designed to incentivize farm to school activity. The report was intended to provide an objective survey on state laws and regulations in order to prepare Massachusetts stakeholders for developing a state-level advocacy campaign. It explores two different models of policies to incentivize farm to school activity–state run grant programs and additional meal program reimbursement–to assess applicability of such policies in Massachusetts.

The research involved a review of state statute(s) and programs in seventeen states and included interviews with stakeholders from 8 states with unique legislation. Interviewees included representatives from non-profits, state agencies, city councils, and state universities in California, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, Washington, D.C., and Wisconsin.

Key Findings:

States around the country have enacted legislation creating farm to school grant programs. While these programs have some unique elements, they are primarily designed to increase the procurement of products grown or produced in the state and may also support farm to school activity such as school gardens. These legislative efforts offer a number of lessons for states exploring grant programs to support farm to school expansion.

The experiences of these states emphasize the following important considerations for any new policies:

1. Establish sustainable funding mechanisms for the grant program
2. Provide clear responsibility for administration and oversight of the program and include adequate financial support for this oversight
3. Require regular reporting on program impacts
4. Appropriately target funds to support the most needed activities
5. Establish tight eligibility requirements for supporting local food purchases to incentivize new purchasing
6. Make grant applications accessible to ensure full utilization of program funds.

Research also identified key lessons for advocates engaged in policy campaigns. These include:

1. Develop a diverse advocacy coalition
2. Establish consistent messaging for your campaign
3. Tailor your message to unique political opportunities and context

Next Steps

This research proved very useful for Massachusetts stakeholders who determined a farm to school grant program was a good first campaign to undertake. In the winter of 2019, advocates worked with State Senator Lesser and State Representative Pignatelli to introduce a bill to establish such a grant program within the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

On June 3, 2019 the bill had a hearing before the Joint Committee on Education! Advocates are invited to submit written testimony in support of the bill through the end of June. To find out more about this bill and get involved in the campaign, visit www.massfarmtoschool.org/policy