We are a coalition of advocates working to get more healthy, local and sustainable foods into D.C. schools and to reconnect D.C. schoolchildren to where their food comes from.

Explore the pages to the left to learn more.

CLICK HERE to make an online donation – Donations will be administered through the Capital Area Food Bank

To sign up for our monthly e-newsletter, email rachel@dcfarmtoschool.org.  For more frequent updates about events, news and highlights, sign up for our Google Group by entering your email address on the left sidebar.

Sign on to Support the Healthy Schools Act!

The Healthy Schools Act Public Hearing

Friday, March 26, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. in Room 500 of the John A. Wilson Building.

See the Updated Hearing Notice HERE

When: Friday, March 26th at 11AM

Where: The Wilson Building, Room 500

Sign up to testify : Contact Ms. Aukima Benjamin at (202) 724-8062, or via e-mail at abenjamin@dccouncil.us.  You can submit written testimony to Ms. Benjamin or bring 15 copies of your 3-minute testimony to the hearing when you speak.

To prepare your testimony:

1) Read this one-pager produced by So Others Might Eat about testifying in the D.C. City Council for the first time.

2) Read the Healthy Schools Act

3) Read the D.C. Farm to School Network’s priorities for the farm to school section of the bill. The school garden section of the bill on pages 18-19 also nicely complement the farm to school section.

• Local Food Preference: Require schools and food service management companies to buy local, unprocessed foods whenever costs are within 10% of conventional food costs.
• Extra Reimbursement: Provide an extra 5 cents to schools (or their food service providers) for every $1 they spend on unprocessed local foods served in school meals.
• Centralized Kitchen: Provide a city building for coordinating the purchase, transport, storage, and processing of local, healthy foods for Washington, D.C. public schools.
• Food Origins: Require public disclosure by schools and food service providers of where foods are grown (and make efforts to discover and disclose how those foods are grown).  Encourage use of local, sustainably grown foods whenever possible.
• Farm to School Education: Institute a mandatory Farm to School promotional week each year, and encourage government agencies, schools, cooperative extension, private sector and community partners to collaborate to incorporate year round hands-on farm to school education with existing educational standards for students and staff.
• Evaluation: Require annual evaluation of farm to school initiatives and recommendations for improvement by an independent, contracted organization.

4) Read some of the commentary on the Healthy Schools Act: see the compilation of blog links and articles on our Healthy Schools Act Page.

5) And most importantly – think about Why farm to school is important to you and why it should be addressed and fully funded in the Healthy Schools Act bill.

Have you seen children under perform when they don’t eat their fruits and vegetables?  Do you know how excited they get when they garden or visit a farm?  Have you seen how kids try and like fresh, seasonal foods?  Have you tasted the D.C. school food and wish it were different?  Can you speak to how this bill will address some of the issues farm to school programs face?  Do you see other environmental or health benefits to D.C. schools “going local”?

To learn even more go to the Healthy Schools Act page of our site.

Thank you to all of the participating D.C. area restaurants and to all who came out to eat and drink in support of DC Farm to School and local food!

Participating Restaurants:
Bar Pilar, Bread and Brew, Busboys and Poets and Eatonville, Cafe Saint-Ex, Clyde’s Restaurants, Farmers & Fishers, PS-7, ris, Coppi’s Organic, and Blue Ridge Restaurant

View some amazing photographs from Local Restaurants for Local Kids, courtesy of Verena Radulovic

Click on the image to see more pictures from Local Flavor Week!

Farmer Miller helping Bancroft students harvest kale & collard greens at Miller Farms

The DC Farm to School Network is supported by the Capital Area Food Bank, and is a member of the National Farm to School Network.

Contact Andrea Northup with specific questions or requests at andrea@dcfarmtoschool.org; (202) 526-5344 x 298