2013 Virginia Weight of the State Conference
Richmond, Virginia
Virginia Farm to School Programs: An Opportunity to
Connect Local Foods to Schools for Improved Student
Health and Nutrition
Matt Benson, PhD Candidate, Graduate Research Assistant
Kim Niewolny, PhD, Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist
Department of Agricultural and Extension Education
Virginia Tech

• Goal is to enhance the Virginia Farm to School Program through research, educational programming, and the development of a
Virginia Farm to School Program Resource Guide.
• Project activity supported by 2010 USDA Specialty Crop Block
Grant.
• Project led by Virginia Tech in collaboration with the Virginia
Department of Education, Virginia Department of Agriculture and
Consumer Services, and project steering committee.
• Results from two phase mixed methods research study (Creswell &
Plano Clark, 2011).

Agriculture in the Classroom, Virginia Farm Bureau
Tammy Maxey and Ron
Saacke
Arcadia Center for Sustainable Food and Agriculture Morgan Maloney
Fall Lines Farms
Goochland County Public School System
Molly Harris
Lisa Borthwick
Harrisonburg City Public School System
Local Food Hub
National Farm-to-School Network
Virginia Department of Agriculture
Virginia Department of Education
Virginia FAIRS
Andrea Early
Emily Manley
Alyssa Densham
Leanne DuBois
Catherine Digilio-Grimes
Chris Cook

• A program that:
• Connects schools (K-12) and local/regional farms with the objectives of serving healthy meals in school cafeterias,
• Improves student knowledge through agricultural, health, and nutrition education, and
• Supports local and regional farmers (National Farm to School
Network, 2013).

• Today, Farm to School programs exist in all 50 states and Washington,
D.C. (National Farm to School Network, 2013).
• In 2001, state governments began to enact legislation supporting Farm to School (Benson & Lott, 2012).
• To date, over 36 jurisdictions have passed at least 74 state policies supporting Farm to School programs (Benson & Lott, 2012).
• In 2011, federal legislation (HR 1645) established October as National
Farm to School Month (National Farm to School Network, 2011).

• A result of legislation passed in 2007 (SJR 347)
(Virginia General Assembly Legislative Information
System, 2007).
• VDACS and VA DOE provide co-leadership.
• Program development has primarily been through policy initiatives, educational events, and pilot projects.
• Legislation passed in 2010 (HJR 95) established the second week of November as the Virginia Farm to
School Week (Virginia General Assembly Legislative
Information System, 2010).

• Virginia Cooperative Extension has a connection to Farm to School through each of its four program areas.
• 4-H Youth Development,
• Agriculture and Natural Resources,
• Community Viability, and
• Family and Consumer Sciences.
• VCE also has a connection to Farm to School through it’s impact team in local foods/food safety.
• Across the nation, Extension is being asked to help address pressing social issues/concerns and Farm to School programs are seen as one way of addressing these concerns.

• Population: Virginia school nutrition directors.
• Goal: To explore Virginia Farm to School Program interest, knowledge, and implementation practices.
• Phase 1 Research Methods:
Developed online questionnaire from
PA instrument.
Work group reviewed and pilot tested instrument.
Instrument implemented during fall 2011.

• Received 85 responses (N=138) for a response rate of ~62%.
• Majority of respondents (55%) stated they were very knowledgeable of the Virginia Farm to School Program.
• No respondent stated that they had never heard of Farm to School.
• Half of respondents (51%) stated they classify local food as food raised or produced within Virginia.

Top Virginia Farm to School Activities
• 86% of respondents served meals featuring local foods.
• 47% of respondents purchased local food using ‘geographic preference’.
• 45% of respondents developed purchasing relations with local farmers.
• 40% of respondents invited a farmer to a school to support education about local food production and agriculture.
• 36% of respondents planted a school garden.

Top Farm to School Potential Benefits
1.
Purchasing local food increases support of Virginia farms and/or businesses (mean=3.55).
2.
Schools support their local economy and local community by purchasing local foods (mean=3.43).
3.
Purchasing local food enhances school division public relations
(mean=3.39).
Top Farm to School Potential Challenges
1.
The seasonal availability of local foods (mean=3.34).
2.
The inadequate supply of local foods (mean=3.13).
3.
Delivery issues with local foods (mean=2.99).
Scale: 4=Strongly agree, 1=Strongly disagree.

Likelihood of Purchasing and Serving More Local Foods
1.
If local food was available from the company who I normally purchase from (mean=3.53).
2.
If there was one place for ordering local foods from multiple farmers
(mean=3.43).
3.
If local foods were more available (mean=3.34).
Top Activities to facilitate more Local Food to Schools
1.
List of local suppliers and food products from local sources
(mean=3.55).
2.
Assistance in developing a system for buying local food (mean=3.23).
3.
Better food safety information about local foods (mean=3.17).
Scale: 4=Strongly agree, 1=Strongly disagree.

Virginia Farm to School Week Results
• 57% of respondents participated in 2009.
• 61% continued to purchase local food throughout the 2009-2010 school year.
• 61% of respondents participated in 2010.
• 69% continued to purchase local food throughout the 2010-2011 school year.
Familiarity with Farm to School Organizations
• Virginia School Nutrition Directors were most familiar with Virginia
Cooperative Extension (79%, N=67).
• Virginia Grown (VDACS) was the second most familiar Farm to School organization/program (72%, N=61).

Virginia Foods Purchased for Farm to School
Fruits
Apples
Blackberries
Cantaloupe
Honeydew
Nectarines
Peaches
Strawberries
Tomatoes
Watermelon
Vegetables
Broccoli
Cabbage
Carrots
Collard greens
Cucumbers
Eggplant
Green beans
Kale
Lettuce (assorted)
Vegetables
Onions
Peppers
Radishes
Spinach
Squash
Sweet potatoes
Turnips
White potatoes
Winter squash
Meats
Chicken
Other
Butter
Ground beef Cheese
Pork Eggs
Flour
Milk

Qualitative questions were developed from previous Farm to School research (Izumi, 2008), and derived from VA survey results.
Qualitative Methods *
School Nutrition
Directors
2 Focus Groups
Specialty Crop
Farmers
1 Group Interview &
2 Individual
Interviews
Food Distributors
2 Interviews

Theme #1: Farm to School is viewed as one strategy to improving the school food environment.
The cafeteria manager explained how her school nutrition director had implemented these changes by stating: “She has done it very gradually. To see what she and the others who are involved have accomplished, there are kindergarteners, first graders, eating beautiful little salads which I would have never seen .”

Theme #2: Educational trainings on Farm to School help facilitate local and regional foods to schools.
One participant stated “I think meetings like this are where we first heard about Farm to School.”
Another participant agreed and said “Yeah that is exactly what I was going to say. I went to the very first Farm to School conference, because I know Andrea and Trista were there and spoke. You were there. Leanne was there.”

Theme #1: Farm to School programs create an opportunity to network diverse agrifood system stakeholders together.
“ I think one reason we’ve been pretty successful is our ability to have relationships both with our farmers and with the institutions that were selling to.”
She explained… “I think about our ability to have these really good relationships with both the farmers and the people that are buying the food. And to be able to share the information inbetween the two.”

Theme #2: The annual Virginia Farm to School Week is one method for increasing participation in the Virginia Farm to
School Program.
When asked if they thought the Virginia Farm to School Week had a positive impact, one participant stated, “Yes, it definitely has. Because what it has done is given people a reason to get their feet wet, and try it out. So they have an excuse or a reason to pursue local food for this one week.”

Theme #1: Farmers had different motivations for participating in Farm to School programs such as student health and nutrition, agricultural education, and farming lifestyle preferences.
One farmer participated because they saw it as a way to connect kids to agriculture and farming while potentially improving student health. She stated: “People need to know where their food is coming from.
Ultimately, we pay for what we put in our mouth.”
One participant explained: “I want kids to eat fresh… I want kids to have the experience of a turnip, kale, collard greens, corn, real sweet corn…. “It is about the kids, I want kids to experience natural food, real natural food.”

Theme #2: Challenges exist for farmer participation, such as price and delivery/logistics of distribution.
One participant explained :“The price point was the big, big stumbling block. They (school divisions) get subsidized food and there is only a limited amount of dollars. But the meat they get commercially is below cost and they are buying it from big corporations that are making their money on pennies.”
Another farmer said: “The logistics [was] a challenge because the school was not prepared to help with the distribution at all. So I physically had to hand deliver all of it to each school.

• Development of Farm to School activities/ programs in Virginia is increasing.
• Virginia School Nutrition Directors are knowledgeable about Farm to School and are supporting Farm to School activities in a variety of different ways.
• There are a number of challenges that exist for Farm to School in
Virginia: primarily related to supply & distribution of local foods.
• Virginia Cooperative Extension is a good program partner for assistance with local and regional Farm to School program development.

23
–Kathleen Merrigan, Deputy Secretary,
U.S. Department of Agriculture
From USDA Farm to School Team 2010 Summary Report, July 2011.

Benson, M., & Lott, M. (2012). Strengthening farm to school programs— A policy brief for state & local
legislators. Portland, OR: Community Food Security Coalition.
Brockwell, P. (2007). Farm-to-School task force report (SJR 347). Senate Document No. 18.
Creswell, J. W., & Plano Clark, V. L. (2011). Designing and conducting mixed methods research. Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
National Farm to School Network. (2011). Farmtoschoolmonth.org. Retrieved from National Farm to School
Network website: http://www.farmtoschoolmonth.org
National Farm to School Network. (2013). Farmtoschool.org. Retrieved from http://www.farmtoschool.org
Virginia General Assembly. (2007). Virginia.gov. Retrieved from http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?071+ful+SJ347+pdf
Virginia General Assembly. (2010). Virginia.gov. Retrieved from http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?101+ful+HJ95+pdf

Kim Niewolny, Ph.D
Assistant Professor/Extension Specialist
Agricultural & Extension Education
Virginia Tech
540-231-5784 niewolny@vt.edu
Matt Benson
Ph.D. Candidate
Agricultural & Extension Education
Virginia Tech
540-522-0762 mcbenson@vt.edu
Pictures from a 2009 Rappahannock County Virginia Farm to School Day.