Vermont Farm to School advocates ask lawmakers for $500,000 each to boost local food in schools

Advocates for Vermont’s Farm to School programs told a legislative committee on Jan. 13 they are seeking level funding of $500,000 for each of two state programs in fiscal year 2027 to expand local food purchasing and school-based education about agriculture.

Kayla Strong, Farm to Institution program director at the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont and a representative of the Farm to School Early Childhood Network, told committee members the network’s three-pronged approach—classroom, cafeteria and community—links school meals to local farms and supports both student learning and the state’s farm economy. "We're here today to ask you for level funding of two critical programs in FY27: the Farm to School Early Childhood Grants program and the Local Foods Incentive program," Strong said.

Strong said roughly $25,000,000 is spent on school food statewide and that about 14% of that spending is currently on local purchases. She described the Local Foods Incentive as a tiered reimbursement program that rewards districts that reach local purchasing targets (for example, 15%, 20% and 25%) and said the grants program, run through the Agency of Education, provides capacity-building and technical assistance. "Our goal is to reach 30% local purchasing by 2030," Strong said.

Student testimony framed the programs as a hands-on pathway to civic and career engagement. Olivia, a senior at Champlain Valley Union High School who has led her school's Farm to School program for four years, said the work connected her to peers, addressed food insecurity locally and informed her plans to study the environment. "Farm to School has changed my life for the better," she said.

Carol Kent, school nutrition director for the Mount Mansfield School District and a member of the Vermont School Nutrition Association board, described operational impacts in her district. Kent said local purchasing in her district rose from about 3% to a projected 15% this year after program engagement and a recent Agency of Education grant award. "The local foods incentive grant gives us the opportunity to really reach for more local foods, get back to scratch cooking," Kent said, adding that the district has prioritized scratch cooking despite a district spending freeze.

Kent and other presenters gave practical examples of farmer partnerships, including work with a grower identified in testimony as Tucker Andrews of Bone Mountain Farm. Presenters described community volunteer efforts to process pumpkin scraps into 300 pounds of pumpkin mash used in school baking, noting the partnership reduced waste while increasing local procurement.

Committee members asked technical questions about how the state funding interacts with USDA Farm to School grants and whether the state dollars are matched. A committee member restated that two $500,000 requests would total $1,000,000 in state support; one comment in the room referenced a different figure, saying "it's $505,100," a point left unresolved during the session.

Presenters said detailed reports from the Agency of Education and the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets on local purchasing and grant outcomes were not yet ready but that they could return later in the session to discuss data. The committee did not take a vote. The chair thanked the presenters, praised local farming efforts and adjourned the short session.

What’s next: presenters will offer agency data later in the legislative session and organizers noted a Farm to School recognition on the House floor and a universal school meals press conference scheduled the same morning.