Feed students S.C. fresh - Diabetes and School Care in South Carolina

Feed students S.C. fresh

March 3, 2009
The Post and Courier

Pick a vegetable for your child's lunch: a squirt of catsup on his french fries or fresh, locally grown broccoli.

The Legislature is considering a bill that likely would appeal to those of us who chose broccoli. The Farm to School Act would encourage school districts to purchase locally and regionally produced foods in order to improve nutrition and strengthen local and regional farm economies.

This bill had no apparent opposition last year, but failed to become law when the Senate ran out of time to vote on it at the end of the session. We hope legislators allow enough time to vote for it this session. It has already received support in the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.

If approved, a Farm to School Program would help foster a direct relationship between South Carolina farms and schools in order to provide schools with fresh and minimally processed foods for students. It would involve the S.C. departments of Education, Agriculture, and Health and Environmental Control.

Farmers would be taught how to get their produce to the schools, and school food services personnel would be trained to prepare it. Students would be taught about healthy eating habits.

Similar programs have taken root in other states. Both North Carolina and Virginia encourage their schools to participate.

South Carolina, with its high incidence of childhood obesity and diabetes, could benefit by joining them. And farmers could use the expanded opportunity to sell their produce.

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