Oklahoma Farm-to-School News:

Initial Farm-to-School Bills Pass in Oklahoma Legislature

Left-right. Kerr Center president Dr. Jim Horne, Fit Kids Coalition chair Stanley Hupfeld, and OICA Executive Director Anne Roberts at the Fit Kids Coalition meeting Feb. 22 at the Oklahoma state capitol.

Two bills supporting farm-to-school efforts in Oklahoma have passed in the Oklahoma legislature.

Senate Bill 1515, authored by Sen. Daisy Lawler, D-Comanche, passed unanimously March 2. House Bill 2655, authored by Rep. Susan Winchester, R-Chickasha, passed 99-1 on March 6.

Each bill now goes to the opposite chamber for consideration.

One goal of farm-to-school programs is to provide, fresh, high-quality, locally-grown fruits and vegetables to school cafeterias.

Another is to get kids excited about healthy eating through nutrition lessons coordinated with the fresh fruits and vegetables served for lunch. Other effective farm-to-school activities include school gardens, Ag-in-the-Classroom activities, farm visits, and cooking classes.

Researchers have found that farm-to-school programs improve children’s nutrition.

The Oklahoma Senate bill encourages school districts to “purchase…locally and regionally produced foods in order to improve child nutrition and strengthen local and regional farm economies.”

It also creates a farm-to-school program within the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture Food and Forestry. The program director’s job would be to develop the program statewide by providing information and assistance to both farmers and school food service directors. The director would also advise state agencies on what is needed to make the program a success.

The program would also educate children about agriculture and nutrition and could include field trips to area farms.

“This a win-win bill for helping our kids with better health and nutrition and for rural economic development,” said Sen. Lawler. “Our initial pilot program was a resounding success and surveys of school districts throughout the state tell us they’re very enthusiastic about this concept.”

The House Bill would create a task force to determine the best way to implement the program.

It also directs ODAFF to establish a grant program to school districts and farmers. The grants would allow school districts “to incorporate food from local farmers on school menus and to implement nutrition education programs.” Grants to farmers would help them with “planning, development and implementation of the new school market.”

“Our students’ diets could be drastically improved adding fresh fruits and vegetables into our school menus. Lack of healthy fruits and vegetables in a child’s daily diet contributes to the massive youth obesity and juvenile diabetes epidemics in our state, “said Rep. Winchester.

The successful two-year farm-to-school pilot program was organized by the Oklahoma Food Policy Council, a joint project of the Kerr Center and the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry.

In 2004, four school districts—Edmond, Broken Arrow, Shawnee, and Tahlequah—served Oklahoma-grown watermelons to students at the beginning of the school year. In 2005, two more school districts, Tulsa and Muskogee, participated in the program.

At the end of 2005, Sen. Lawler established an interim study of farm-to-school.  Speakers familiar with the Oklahoma program as well as farm-to-school advocates from outside Oklahoma testified at the capitol.  

During the first interim hearing, Dr. Jim Horne, president and CEO of the Kerr Center, said farm to school is “a way to help encourage better nutrition and to get parents actively involved in supporting better nutrition in schools. But it also will get our farmers interested.”

During the hearing, Anne Roberts, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy, said one of the top health issues for the state's young people was obesity. Roberts told the committee that in 2004, Oklahoma ranked 13th in the nation in adult obesity with an 11.1 percent of Oklahoma high school students considered overweight with another 14.2 percent at risk for being overweight.

She also said that when it comes to consuming five or more fruits or vegetables a day, Oklahomans rank last in the nation.

Roberts said farm-to-school had worked in other states to help provide better nutrition for children and reduce obesity rates. She supports expansion of existing farm-to-school programs to serve more children.

In recent months, establishment of an expanded statewide farm-to-school program was endorsed by the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy as well as the Fit Kids Coalition.

Both organizations are influential advocates of children’s health.

The Fit Kids Coalition is a grass roots association of more than 90 organizations. The organization supports efforts to fight childhood obesity in Oklahoma.

During a Feb. 22 press conference announcing the Fit Kids legislative agenda for 2005, Fit Kids chairman Stanley Hupfeld, CEO of Integris Health in Oklahoma City, said that the quickest way to positively affect change in children’s health is through the schools.

Kerr Center president Jim Horne spoke of the excitement of opening a dialogue about farm-to-school with the Fit Kids coalition and others interested in children’s health.

“We come at farm-to-school from a rural development perspective,” he said. “And we appreciate the support of Fit Kids and look forward to building a rapport [through farm-to-school] that’s long been missing between urban America and rural America.”

This project is supported by the Community Food Projects Program of the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, grant # 2004-33800-15141

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