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2006 – 2021
A Portland Public School student samples yakisoba noodles from Umi Organic. Photo credit: Shawn Linehan
A history of hard-won success
Through wide-ranging partnerships, farm to school and school garden programs have grown. But it didn’t happen over night. It has taken the state more than a decade to advance to where it is today.
The Oregon Farm to School and School Garden Network is formed
Oregon creates a “Farm to School” position in the Oregon Department of Agriculture
A parallel position is created in the Oregon Department of Education, making Oregon the first state in the country to support this program through positions in two state agencies.
A Farm to School and School Garden grant program is created for school districts, starting with a small pilot funding amount of $200,000.
Grant funding is expanded for school districts by $1,000,000, to a total of $1.2 million for 2013-15, allocation funding to 21 school districts around the state to buy local foods and to provide “food-based, agriculture based and garden-based educational activities.”
Funding is expanded again, this time to a total of $4.5 million for 2015-17.
Advocates and practitioners throughout the state rallied to keep Farm to School and School Garden grant funding in the Oregon state budget. HB 2038, championed by Representative Brian Clem, passed with unanimous support in both the House and the Senate, preserving $4.5 million in funding for the statewide Farm to School and School Garden grant program for the coming two-year budget cycle.
HB 2579 passed with unanimous support in both the House and the Senate, increasing farm to school and school garden funding from $4.5 million to $15 million. The new legislation includes early $5 million in recurring funding for Oregon Department of Education to continue their programming.
With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Farm to School grant funds are in threat of being eliminated. After a state-wide effort that activated dozens of partners, and enlisted support from schools, food businesses, and advocates from across the state, legislators voted to allocate $10.2 million to the program.
In 2021, Oregon renewed its commitment to supporting farm to school and school garden programming throughout the state, with the legislature approving $10.2 million in funding for Oregon’s Farm to Child Nutrition Programs grants (local purchasing, education, technical assistance, evaluation, and producer support). These funds are critical resources for Oregon schools and early childhood centers to buy and serve Oregon foods; for districts, early childhood sites, and partner organizations to provide agriculture, nutrition, and garden-based educational activities; and for producers to meet the needs of schools as buyers.
Learn more about the impact of this win for millions of students, educators, and producers supported by these grants.
Read Ecotrust’s written testimony, authored by Community Food Systems Program Manager Angela Hedstrom.
Ecotrust Project Team
Want to learn more? Check out the full Ecotrust Staff & Board and all of our Tools for Building Collective Change.
“
Farm to school is a win, win, win! Farmers win, kids win and communities win.
—Megan Kemple, Oregon Farm to School and School Garden Network
What our partners are saying
“We should always be using tax dollars to buy local. It never made sense to me to buy apples from anywhere else than right here in Oregon. This program connects our schools and children to our most important industry: agriculture. It’s Oregon farmers feeding Oregon’s children. There are a lot of people to thank for their work on Farm to School over the years, but Speaker Kotek and Rep. Nathanson really went to bat for us last session. We wouldn’t have a Farm to School program without their help, plain and simple.”
— Representative Brian Clem
“Oregon should be the best place for ensuring students have access to nutritious meals at school so they can learn, grow, and flourish. A student who has a healthy breakfast and lunch at school is more likely to have better attendance, graduate high school, and be fully present and ready to learn in the classroom. Farm to School helps make that happen.”
— Matt Newell-Ching, Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon
“At a time of so many hard choices in our state budget, FoodCorps is thrilled to see the Oregon legislature investing in farm to school programming and the dividends it will bring for our kids, our farmers and ranchers, and our communities. This commitment will strengthen Oregon’s farm economy, while helping to ensure that children across the state are well-nourished and ready to learn.”
— Curt Ellis, FoodCorps
“Farm to school is a win, win, win! Farmers win, kids win and communities win.”
— Megan Kemple, Oregon Farm to School and School Garden Network
“I really don’t think there’s anything greater than feeding kids good food. That’s what this farm to school bill is all about. We want to make sure our kids have the best. That means both in what they eat, having the nutrition for their brains to learn, but also the environment that they live in, and the economy of that environment.”
— Lola Milholland, Umi Organic
Resources
Website
OregonFarmtoSchool.org was built by Ecotrust on behalf of the Oregon Farm to School and School Garden Network (OFSSGN) to track progress and measure success for the farm to school movement in Oregon.
Research
Examining the effects of a $.07 per meal investment on local economic development, lunch participation rates, and student preferences for fruits and vegetables in two Oregon school districts.
Research
A summary of the data from the National Farm to School Network illustrating the many benefits of farm to school — from economic development to public health, education, environment, and community engagement.
Misc
Randy Kiyokawa sees multiple benefits from working with public schools
Misc
From the Willamette Valley to Curry County, farms, schools and kids are benefiting from Farm to School and School Garden Grants.
Misc
Wellness Specialist Katrina Wiest sees program’s positive effects on farmers, students
VIDEO
Welcome to the Salem-Keizer School District in Oregon, where 40,000 students are eating more healthy, local food and learning in school gardens, cafeterias, and classrooms. Meet our diverse team of partners who brought this farm to school program to life.
Misc
Press release
Release Date: 07-07-2017
Press release
Release Date: 04-05-2017
News
July 14, 2017
The Clatskanie Chief
News
June 8, 2017
Bandon Western World
News
April 6, 2017
Portland Tribune
