USDA Invites County Farmers To Step Up For Grant Money And Be Local Heroes
We have not yet seen these locally, but farmers in other parts of the country are using grant money from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to print farmer trading cards for school children.
Never mind take me out to the ball game, the idea of the farmer trading cards is to bring the farm right into the school lunchroom and introduce students to the local heroes who are growing their food.
According to the USDA farmers in Virginia are working with school lunch staff to bring their produce to school, and leave cards in the lunch room to show them their food is grown by real people on real farms. In Pennsylvania, the USDA gave grants to the People for People Charter School and the Norristown Area School District to increase wellness by bringing fresh local produce into lunch rooms.
Chester County farmers interested in giving a farmer trading card project a try may apply here. The deadline to apply is April 30. Grant webinars are under way.
School cafeteria staff at school districts across the county, who are upping fruit and vegetable servings as they implement healthy initiatives mandated by the National School Lunch Program, are likely to welcome creative proposals from local farmers. Farmers should also keep in mind local school districts are now crafting budgets for 2014-15 and these must be approved by June 30.
Farmers who are shy about calling themselves heroes or putting their farms and faces on a trading card might take some inspiration from the Peterson Farm Brothers and their very amusing Gangnam parody:
Bringing broccoli and trading cards to the lunch room would be much more simple.
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