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Lawmakers hear calls to restore funding for Farm to School and early-care care program
Summary
Representative Nelson introduced HF 1795 to fund Minnesota’s Farm to School and Early Care program after recent federal cuts; farmers and program participants testified that the program provides stable markets for small farms and kitchen-equipment grants that enable scratch cooking in schools.
Representative Nelson brought House File 1795 before the committee seeking renewed funding for the state Farm to School and Early Care program, which reimburses schools and early-care settings for purchases of Minnesota-grown food and provides kitchen-equipment grants to expand scratch-cooking capacity.
Nelson said the program helps school districts and early-care centers buy locally produced fruits, vegetables, eggs, meat and other products and noted that the program has enabled field trips and classroom connections between students and local farms. He told the committee the program has strong demand: the most recent federal solicitation drew $5,300,000 in requests while the state currently funds the program at $1,290,000.
Joan Olsen of Prairie Drifter Farm in Litchfield and Cindy Vanderpool of Pastures of Plenty Farm in Kerkhoven testified in support. Olsen said farm-to-school sales accounted for 10.6% of her farm’s income in 2024 and could be 30% in 2025, adding that kitchen-equipment grants let districts preserve and prepare local product year-round. Vanderpool said the recent federal cancellation of more than $13,000,000 in funding for Minnesota’s program left committed supplier bids and local processor capacity at risk and that losing the school market affects multiple family businesses.
Nelson said the bill’s appropriation line is blank in committee materials and urged that funding be found in the budget process. Committee members asked no substantive questions of the out-of-state testifiers; the bill was laid over for further consideration.
