Political Quotes

“October is National Farm to School Month. It is time when we celebrate food education, school gardens, and lunch trays filled with healthy, local ingredients. Farm to School brings healthy foods from local farms to schoolchildren nationwide. The program teaches students about the path from farm to fork and instills healthy eating habits that can last a lifetime by introducing children to real food. At the same time, use of local produce in school meals and educational activities provides a new direct market opportunity for family farmers in the area and lessens environmental impacts of transporting food long distances. More than 31 million children eat a school lunch 5 days a week, 180 days a year. If school lunch can taste great and support the local community, everybody wins. In the early 1990s, there were merely a few Farm to School programs, and today there are thousands. Mr. Speaker, as chairman of the Nutrition Subcommittee, it is encouraging to see this program grow and our schoolchildren's diets improving. A lifelong love of healthy, locally grown food from your local farmer is something we can all support. ____________________”