A grant will help Minnesota schools receive locally grown food. | Pixabay
A grant will help Minnesota schools receive locally grown food. | Pixabay
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) will receive funds from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service to support Farm to School initiatives in Minnesota.
The MDA will match the two-year, $99,881 grant and create a "Harvest of the Month" program that officials say will give local schools access to local food monthly in the school cafeterias, classrooms and in the community.
“Schools need easy-to-use targeted marketing, educational materials and better ways to connect with Minnesota producers interested in supplying schools,” Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen said in an MDA press release. “This grant will allow us to build on existing Farm to School efforts and expand them.”
Education Commissioner Mary Cathryn Ricker also weighed in on the effort.
“Farm to School helps fuel our students’ learning with local, Minnesota-grown food,” Ricker said, according to the press release. “We should use every effort to expand and support this important program that connects our students to our agriculture community.”
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