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Students, educators and farmers ask Legislature to level-fund Farm to School and Local Food Incentive programs
Summary
Students, superintendents and food-service professionals urged the joint education committees to continue $500,000 base appropriations for the Farm to School grant program and the Local Food Incentive program and to maintain universal school meals, citing student health, local economic return, and increased local purchasing.
Witnesses at a joint House and Senate education committee hearing asked lawmakers to level-fund two Vermont food programs at $500,000 each for fiscal year 2027 and to continue universal school meals through the education fund.
Dana Hudson, coordinator of the Vermont Farm to School and Early Childhood Network (Shelburne Farms), asked the Legislature to fund the Rosa McLaughlin Farm to School and Early Childhood grant program and the Local Food Incentive program at $500,000 each. She described three cornerstone initiatives—grant-making to build school capacity, incentives to boost local purchasing, and universal school meals—and said the programs help schools, farmers and students.
Student testimony: Julia Wolf, a Harwood Union High School student, told lawmakers she benefited from farm-to-school activities from preschool…
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