DeLauro Applauds New USDA Farm to School Grant for Connecticut

WASHINGTON, DC—Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-3) today applauded Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack’s announcement that the U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded Connecticut a $14,000 grant to host a state-wide conference to share best practices and bring together farm to school practitioners from across the state. That grant is part of more than $5 million in grants for 82 projects that connect school cafeterias with local farmers and ranchers through the Farm to School Program.

“Connecticut’s grant is just one example of how these farm to school grants are giving states across America the funding necessary to push innovative approaches to providing children with access to healthier local foods. I wholeheartedly believe the farm to school efforts that these grants support are an integral part of improving child nutrition, and is one of the key components of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act that Congress passed in 2010,” said DeLauro.

The Connecticut Food Systems Alliance and the Connecticut School Garden Resource Center will present a statewide conference this spring. The theme will be “Cafeterias and School Gardens: Where Does Our Food Come From?” and will bring together over 250 farm to school and school garden practitioners, leaders, educators, and volunteers to share best practices, build professional networks, discuss new approaches and resources, explore evaluation techniques, and celebrate innovation and outstanding achievement.

“We are delighted to be able to host an event in 2015 that brings together both school food service directors and school garden educators to work together to improve school food environments,” said Jiff Martin, Sustainable Food Systems Educator at UConn Extension.

“Over the past few years, there have been organizations and volunteers developing innovative school garden and school food programs across Connecticut. This grant provides an important opportunity for these stakeholders to come together to share challenges and best practices while exploring how to collaborate toward increasing the impact of their respective programs on the health, well-being and academic achievement of our children” said Melissa Spear, Executive Director at Common Ground.


###