FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, September 7, 2011

CONTACT:
Margaret Hart, Communications Coordinator
651.201.6131, Margaret.hart@state.mn.us

Students offered more locally grown foods in school lunches this year

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Minnesota students are eating more fresh, locally grown produce in school lunches this year thanks to the Farm to School efforts of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) and the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH).

MDA’s Minnesota Grown Program has a new online directory that makes it easy for schools and other institutions to find local farmers capable of supplying them with locally grown foods. More than 65 farms are already listed in the new database with more being added each week, according to MDA’s Local Foods Supervisor Paul Hugunin.

“The Minnesota Grown Program has more than 1,100 farmer members throughout Minnesota and has been promoting locally grown foods for the past 30 years. So capitalizing on our membership base and experience to create a directory of farmers selling to institutions seemed like a natural idea,” said Hugunin. “We’ve designed this online directory to allow institutional buyers to search for farmers not just based on their location and products offered, but they can also sort for farms that deliver directly to the schools or through a distributor.”

The free online directory is available to schools as well as other buyers and can be found at www.minnesotagrown.com. Minnesota farmers who sell to schools can list their farm in the new database by becoming a Minnesota Grown member for just $20 per year.

Farm to School programs are also one solution to the epidemic of obesity in Minnesota and the nation. According to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), four out of five Minnesota sixth- and ninth-graders do not get the recommended number of five servings of fruits and vegetables daily. Low fruit and vegetable intake, high calorie diets and limited activity are key risk factors for childhood obesity. The good news is that students involved with Farm to School programs increase the number of servings of fruits and vegetables they eat by one daily serving and they carry these habits home. That’s why MDH works to increase access to healthy foods for Minnesota children through Farm to School. MDH supports state and local Farm to School efforts through the Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP), Great Trays, and other partnerships. For example, SHIP initiated or expanded Farm to School efforts in more than 325 schools in 2010. 

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