USDA officials studying successes of Oregon's program

By MITCH LIES
Capital Press

ALBANY, Ore. -- Despite not spending a lot of money on it, Oregon's Farm to School program apparently is viewed as a national model.

A USDA official was in the Willamette Valley last week getting a firsthand view of Oregon's farm-to-school and school-garden programs.

Also, earlier this week, Oregon was announced as one of nine states selected for a visit by the USDA's Farm to School Team -- a team that is part of the department's Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food program.

"We're interested in re-connecting people with their food," said Kathryn Quanbeck, a Food and Nutrition specialist with USDA, who is on the team and who visited Oregon last week.

Quanbeck toured a school cafeteria, talked to school food buyers and toured Nature's Fountain Farm near Albany during her stop in Oregon last week. Scott Frost, who owns the farm, grows organic vegetables under contract for the farm-to-school program.

He encouraged Quanbeck to promote the farm-to-school nationwide.

"If anybody says this can't work, they need to come and talk to me," Frost said, "because it can work anywhere."

Oregon's farm-to-school program operates on a bare-bones budget that pays for two positions -- one with the Oregon Department of Agriculture and one with the Oregon Department of Education.

Still, 66 school districts, or about one-third of Oregon's school districts, buy some food from local growers or local food processors, according to the Oregon Department of Agriculture.

The USDA's Farm to School Team announced this week it plans to visit Eugene 4J and Bethel School District in Eugene this spring.

Online

USDA Farm to School: www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/F2S/