USDA Pushing for School Districts to Buy Food from Local Farmers



Jamie Oliver and Michelle Obama, take note: the United States Department of Agriculture has just announced that it's implementing a rule that is “encouraging” school districts to buy from local farmers for their school lunches.
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“This rule is an important milestone that will help ensure that our
children have access to fresh produce and other agricultural products,” blabbed  Agriculture Under Secretary Kevin Concannon in a press release. “It will also give a
much-needed boost to local farmers and agricultural producers.”

They really don't spell out how “schools and other providers [will] give preference to unprocessed locally grown
and locally raised agricultural products as they purchase food,” whether it's economically feasible, and how such “encouragement” will turn into a full-fledged food revolution, but this is a welcome development to counter the scourge of chimichangas and tater tots that have plagued local school lunches for decades. Imagine the synergy that could happen if, say, the vendors at the Irvine Farmers market sold what they didn't sell Saturday mornings to feed local kiddies for the following week? One can only dream…

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