Contacts:
Koi Boynton, Vermont Agency of Agriculture, (802) 828-2084
Kelly Loftus, Vermont Agency of Agriculture, (802) 828-3829

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Montpelier, Vt – The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Vermont Food Education Every Day (VT FEED), in partnership with the Department of Health, and the Department of Education, recently announced the recipients of the 2009 Farm to School grants at a special ceremony at the Statehouse cafeteria.

The Rozo McLaughlin Farm to School program is in its third year and named for Rozo McLaughlin. Rozo was a state legislator who was devoted to improving the health and welfare of Vermont’s children. She worked diligently to find ways to incorporate good nutrition into kids’ diets by linking local producers and schools.

This year, grants were awarded to eleven schools. Seven are implementation grants and four are planning grants. Schools who received grants in 2008 were on hand with displays demonstrating how the money had made an impact on their school and the important role the grants played in bringing more local foods to their cafeteria while making connections with local farmers.

“This is an educational opportunity I didn’t expect to experience until college and here it is in high school,” said Jennie Meglathery, Thetford Academy student speaking of how they used a Farm to School grant in 2008. “It is all because of this grant so I just have to say thank you all for making it possible.”

“When students are able to communicate the importance of connecting Vermont Agriculture and local foods to education, we know we have made a difference,” said Abbie Nelson, Co-director of VT FEED.

“We understand the importance of building connections between schools, children and producers throughout Vermont. This is why we have made a priority to work to ensure funding for this and other agricultural education programs,” said Senator Sara Kittell. “Supporting our local farmers and local foods is good economics for our communities and gives our children a closer connection to food choices for better health.”

“This important and innovative legislation supports farmers, school service providers, teachers and school administrators as they work to increase local products in our school cafeterias,” said Governor Jim Douglas.

Commissioner of Education Armando Vilaseca underscored the importance of the Farm to School program and stated that the Department of Education would make this initiative a top priority.

According to Koi Boynton, Farm to School Coordinator with the agency of agriculture, through the partnership with VT FEED and the departments of health and education, a new statewide steering committee will be formed.

“The steering committee will include stakeholders and serve to provide statewide vision and improve communication throughout the state in order to build regional and local capacity for farm to school programs,” commented Boynton.

Secretary of Agriculture Roger Allbee said, “We are so thrilled with how much this program has grown. It is wonderful to hear the stories of how students are relating farming to reading, math, science and economics. We look forward to seeing farm to school continue to grow for the benefit of our students and our farmers.”

2009 will see some great projects from schools all over the state including the expansion of a breakfast at Lawrence Barnes Elementary School in Burlington to include local foods and the creation of a mini-grant program to allow students to expand food and farm curriculum at Thetford Academy.

2009 Farm to School Grant Recipients

Implementation Grants
	Dover Elementary School	East Dover, VT
	Lawrence Barnes Elementary School	Burlington, VT
	Albany Community School	Albany, VT
	Sharon Elementary	Sharon, VT
	Harwood Union Middle/High School	South Duxbury, VT
	Thetford Academy	Thetford, VT
	State Street School	Windsor, VT

Planning Grants
	Mount Anthony Union Middle School	East Dover, VT
	Richmond Elementary School	Burlington, VT
	Cabot School	Albany, VT
	Randolph Elementary School	Sharon, VT