Diane Conners: Lansing Moving on Farm-to-School?

Update: On Oct. 1 the Senate Agriculture Committee CANCELED a hearing on the four farm-to-school and related Select Michigan bills originally set for Oct. 2. It will be rescheduled in NOVEMBER. To weigh in, send your comments to the clerk of the committee, Jeff Cobb, at jcobb@senate.michigan.gov or fax 517-373-3300.  You may also speak at the hearing if you are able. For more information, call Mr. Cobb at 517-373-1635. Click here for contact information for each of the members of the Senate Agriculture Committee.

Farm-to-school legislation took a big step forward in Michigan earlier this month when the state House passed-by a nearly unanimous vote-a package of bills meant to make it easier for schools to buy and serve food grown by local farms.

That should be music to the ears of the more than 330 people who packed a farm-to-school conference in Traverse City last March and were astonished to learn that state law currently includes more red tape than many other Midwest states-and even the federal government-when it comes to schools purchasing locally grown food.

Supporters who testified at a House Agriculture Committee hearing September 10th said the bills provide a two-for-one benefit for Michigan: They invest in children’s health and the state’s economy.

Now the measures, expanded since originally introduced in April, go to the Senate. To ask your senator to act on them before the Legislature recesses, phone, write, or email your state senators. A synopsis of the bills, along with their bill numbers and links to full language is here. The bills attack the red tape by allowing public schools to purchase larger amounts of local food before triggering a formal bid process. As original bill sponsor Representative Lee Gonzales (R-Flint) said, cutting red tape was just “the low hanging fruit”; this package does a lot more.

The bills allow the state’s education and agriculture departments to provide training to schools in fresh-food preparation, and encourage them to build kitchen facilities equipped for scratch cooking It also helps schools create business relationships with farms by showing them how to snag federal school lunch dollars for local purchases and use Michigan’s Select Michigan local food program and online local food directories.

Patty Cantrell, program director for the Michigan Land Use Institute, testified to the Agriculture Committee about the progress made in northwest Michigan since the nonprofit organization launched a farm-to-school initiative with area schools in 2004. And she noted how the bills can help not only schools but also the broader Michigan food economy.

Grand Traverse Area Catholic Schools Superintendent Michael Buell, whose 1,100-student system raised more than $300,000 to renovate its central kitchen and train staff for fresh food preparation last year, explained why he and his colleagues have already spent nearly $18,500 to purchase tasty, nutritious locally grown food instead of processed, heat-and-serve fare.

Mr. Buell told the legislators that feeding kids good food is like using hardwood for winter heat: You don’t use only fast-burning kindling in the morning and expect heat in the evening, and you don’t feed kids junk food and expect them to be alert all day.

He added that, while there’s hardwood in California, Michiganders don’t import it for burning: “It doesn’t make sense to ship fruits and vegetables from other states when we have them here.”

Well said, and kudos to Michigan’s representatives for heeding both a children’s health and economic message. Is the Senate listening?