Compromise and cooperation needed to get healthy foods into
local schools
There are inherent challenges in the way of getting locally
grown food into San Benito County schools, and that’s a shame
considering agriculture is the No. 1 industry here.
Compromise and cooperation needed to get healthy foods into local schools
There are inherent challenges in the way of getting locally grown food into San Benito County schools, and that’s a shame considering agriculture is the No. 1 industry here.
The biggest roadblocks are the federal government’s standards for which products are allowable in schools and the high cost of doing business on such a scale for local farms. They shouldn’t, however, impede efforts to change the federal regulations and increase opportunities in schools for San Benito County’s many farmers and ranchers.
That’s where Tim and Nants Foley recently have stepped in. The local couple runs an organization called San Benito Bounty. One of the primary goals of the group – and an upcoming event at the Foleys’ Quicksilver Farm on Labor Day – is to get more locally grown foods into area schools.
It’s a worthy effort and would stand to benefit farmers and students, who would get to enjoy higher quality, more nutritious products, right from our own back yard.
It’s also a timely effort because the Child Nutrition Act comes up for reauthorization every five years, and this year it is up for examination.
Part of the purpose of the Foleys’ potluck picnic – see the story in this week’s Pinnacle, and we encourage attendance for any interested residents – is to “capture the attention of legislators,” Nants Foley said. Another point of the event is to gain interest in San Benito Bounty, which would help to build the base of local voices pushing this cause.
The Foleys already are working on taking smaller steps toward that goal. One of them is discussion they and board members have had about starting a Harvest of the Month Club at some local schools. They would team with Community Alliance for Family Farmers in Santa Cruz, which also has a major goal of getting more local products served in area schools.
Getting to a point where local farmers can make it cost effective, however, remains a major stalling point. One idea that has been tossed around – forming a collaborative of farms to lower costs through bulk distribution – makes sense and must move forward for the movement to gain traction in the agriculture community. Farmers, after all, aren’t going to jump at the chance to lose money.
And local growers won’t have much of any chance at involvement if the federal government doesn’t budge on its stringent standards for keeping the food costs in schools to an absolute minimum. There must be compromise on both ends.
