Vermont advocates ask Senate education committee to keep $500,000 in Farm-to-School and Local Food grants; defend universal school meals

Betsy Rosenbluth, the farm-to-school director at Shelburne Farms, told the Vermont Senate Education Committee on Feb. 12 that the state should keep level funding of $500,000 for both the Farm to School and Early Childhood Grants and the Local Food Incentive program.

"Every Vermonter should have access to the nourishing food that we produce in this state and every child should have that nourishing food on their lunch tray," Rosenbluth said, describing the programs’ goal of pairing local purchasing with food education in classrooms and cafeterias.

The testimony centered on three linked efforts: the state grant program that Rosenbluth called the Rosa McLaughlin Farm to School grant program, the Local Food Incentive that pays schools per lunch when they hit local-purchasing thresholds, and Vermont’s Universal School Meals policy. Rosenbluth and representatives from the Agency of Agriculture and school food service directors described a cycle in which universal meals increase participation, giving food-service programs revenue and flexibility to buy more locally produced items.

Why it matters: Committee witnesses said funding helps schools buy local food and sustain hands-on learning. Gina Clitherow,…