Making Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Motion to Proceed

Floor Speech

MAKING EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS--MOTION TO PROCEED -- (Senate - November 16, 2007)

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Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, as we consider the farm bill, I am proud to say that Vermont is leading the Nation in developing programs to bring fresh, local foods to school cafeterias.

Let me begin by recounting the experience of Burlington, VT, which has been replicated in other cities and towns across our State. Five years ago, residents of the city expressed concern about the significant nutritional issues facing the city's children. Twenty percent of the city's children were living in poverty, food insecurity was widespread, and the rate of childhood obesity was steadily increasing. In response, citizens called for an increased commitment to healthy food choices for children and their families.

At the same time, they were aware of the need to promote the local farm economy. So in the fall of 2003, with a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant, the Burlington School Food Project was created.

The program brings fresh foods from local farms to school cafeterias and provides hands-on agricultural education in the classroom. Students at the ten schools in this program are now eating foods that are healthier, more nutritious and from all the reports I have heard, better tasting.

The program also involves students in the process of harvesting, preparing and even taste-testing their own food. This has helped many young Vermonters learn about where food comes from, helping them connect with their local farms and community.

After 4 years of the project's existence, the Burlington school district now prepares 930,000 meals annually using fresh and local produce. Several schools offer salad bars either as a full lunch or as a side item to hot lunches. This has led to better diets and improved health.

The project has also been impressive from an economic standpoint. Last year, for instance, more than 1,000 pounds of local tomatoes, 600 pounds of local zucchini, 600 pounds of carrots and 400 pounds of local basil were used in school meals. The amount of local produce purchased tripled between 2003 and 2006.

Many partners have built upon these successes. Today, I would like to mention two driving forces.

Bonnie Acker, a school parent, took it upon herself to do whatever necessary to improve the quality of the food being served at her child's school. She worked with teachers, students, volunteers, and cafeteria workers at Edmunds Middle School. This school has become a model for others, its cafeteria has been transformed, and its school gardens are rich with color.

The director of the Burlington School Food Service, Doug Davis, provided much of the leadership needed to make BSFP work. When he was approached by parents like Bonnie, he listened. He then immediately took action and spearheaded an effort to buy whole grain breads for the cafeterias. Doug also introduced initiatives such as taste tests and classrooms linked to the cafeteria. Before long, Burlington students were trying new foods and getting healthier lunches. For his efforts, Doug was presented the Northeast award as Food Service Director of the Year.

But Burlington is not alone. Other Vermont school districts have undertaken similar programs, among them:

Brattleboro Elementary Schools, which won a Vermont Farm to School grant to set up a program to promote local food purchasing, taste testing seasonal foods, and to get students to farms for hands-on agricultural experiences. Sheila Humphreys coordinates the program, and Laura White has been a major force in its success.

Waitsfield Elementary worked with VT FEED on local purchasing and developing a food, farm and nutrition curriculum. Key figures in this effort have been school nurse Sue Dillon, as well as George Schenk of American Flatbread, who has been a strong and supportive community member raising money for Waitsfield and other schools.

Orleans Essex North Supervisory Union, where three elementary schools have comprehensive farm to school programs that include local purchasing, school gardening, taste testing of seasonal products, harvest celebrations with farmers and the communities, field studies with students on farms, and the development of farm and food-based classroom activities.

Sharon Elementary School also worked with VT FEED for 3 years developing a food, farm, and nutrition curriculum. Its principal, Sheila Moran, along with teacher Keenan Haley and food service director Lynn Ann Perry, have been instrumental in weaving farm to school into their school culture.

Ferrisburgh Elementary School has involved high school students to do field studies on farms, make a school garden, purchase more local foods and taste-test them, try new recipes using local foods, and have a farmers' market harvest festival for their community.

In addition, Hardwick Elementary School has worked with VT FEED on combining food, farm, and nutrition into the existing curricula, planting crops on farms for school use, and making healthy snacks. Val Simmons, its food service director, has led the effort to reconnect students and school food to the local farms.

Salisbury Elementary School takes students to local farms for field studies and does local food taste testing in classrooms. Here, teacher Diane Benware and food service director Gaye Truax have been prime movers.

On a larger scale, the Food Works' Farm-to-Table program, based in Montpelier, serves as a nonprofit distributor of produce from 18 area farms, delivering the produce throughout the year to 13 schools in central Vermont. In 2007 alone, more than $50,000 of local produce has been purchased and distributed through Farm-to-Table. Rick Hungerford, food service director at the U-32 High School in East Montpelier, is now sourcing nearly 14 percent of cafeteria purchases locally while turning a profit and preparing outstanding, healthy food for the entire school community. Ann Gilbert and Liz Scharf, two parents from Rumney Elementary School in Middlesex, spearheaded a grassroots effort to connect their school with local farms, in particular to purchase year-round from local grower Joe Buley, who is new to farming and has invested in greenhouse production so he can sell to schools.

Finally, let me recognize Vermont Food Education Every Day, VT FEED, which uses a community-based approach to school food system change and is the product of a collaboration of three Vermont nonprofits: Food Works, Northeast Organic Farming Association of VT, and Shelburne Farms. It does fine work in building connections between classrooms, cafeterias, local farms, and communities. It is most ably directed by Abbie Nelson and Kim Norris. It has also had strong cooperation from Jo Busha, the State Director of the Vermont Department of Education Child Nutrition Program, in introducing the farm to school concept to many school food service directors.

And this is just the beginning. With strong provisions in the farm bill for beginning farmers, increased funding for fruits and vegetables for schools, and an innovative pilot to work on community gardens in high-poverty schools, I expect Vermont's trailblazing efforts to expand not only in our State, but across the Nation.

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