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Crops go from 'Farm to School'
OKLAHOMA CITY — Watermelons planted the seeds for building a closer connection between Oklahoma school districts and local growers.
It was quite a feat, considering the Hinton-area watermelons were seedless.
Based on the success of a two-year pilot program involving six school districts, Gov. Brad Henry signed a bill June 6 that will create the Oklahoma Farm to School Program.
"We liked the idea of using local produce grown in Oklahoma," said Shelly McLain, child nutrition supervisor for Edmond schools. "It told us which farm it was coming from."
The law, to take effect on Nov. 1, says the program will be established within the state Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry. It will work with the state departments of health, education and human services, along with non-government agencies.
Schools will not be forced to participate, though House Bill 2655 said the program's purpose is to "emphasize the purchase of locally and regionally produced foods in order to improve child nutrition and strengthen local and regional farm economies."
About 150 schools within the six districts were involved, said Mike Schulte, diversified agriculture coordinator for the state The Oklahoma Food Policy Council, a partnership between the state's agriculture department and the Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture, operated the pilot.
Broken Arrow, Edmond, Shawnee and Tahlequah started their two-year pilot participation in 2004; the Muskogee and Tulsa school districts joined for one year in 2005.
The program bought its fruit from Bob Ramming, a farmer who grows watermelons on 300 acres near Hinton.
About $29,000 in U.S. Department of Defense/USDA funds were used for the program, including $22,000 in the second year, but school districts will pay from their food budget in the future. Oklahoma is one of at least 17 states with Farm to School programs.
McLain and Rhonnie Kerns, director of child nutrition for Tahlequah schools, said watermelons were made available at elementary, middle and high schools for lunch side items. Teachers also taught lessons based on watermelons.
Tahlequah went through 105 watermelons over a five-week period in August and September. Edmond bought 432 melons.
The pilot is over, but Kerns said the district will continue looking closer to home for potential fruit and vegetable sources.
"The Farm to School program basically opened it up to us," she said. "We're not going to be doing it this year, but I am looking into buying from local vendors."
Kim Shelton of Muskogee schools said the concept wasn't new to her district because it has bought produce over the past few years from a Muskogee-based distributor. The district worked with the Kerr Center during its year in the program, but Shelton said Muskogee schools intend to keep buying produce from the local producer whenever feasible.
Schulte said the program started small with one fruit, watermelons, to learn how it would work. Now that it's going statewide, organizers are trying to widen it with more farmers, crops and school districts. He said a survey showed about 150 producers are interested in participating.
Meanwhile, Schulte and other organizers are meeting with food service directors at school districts throughout the state to explain the program.
"Right now we're trying to get school districts to link up with local growers," he said. McLain of Edmond said, "We'd love to support local producers, but it does have to be affordable for us and we've got to have procedures in place to make it work."
For now, Farm to School is emphasizing fruits and vegetables, though Schulte said local meat products might be included at some later point. Deals involving watermelons and honeydew melons could be the most common, though other fruits and vegetables are likely to join the mix locally.
Shelton said Muskogee could buy broccoli, cauliflower, peaches and other produce from its local producer. Doug Walton of the Kerr Center lists potatoes, onions and several varieties of state-grown tomatoes as other possibilities.
"There is an amazing array of crops grown in Oklahoma that could be available," said Walton, the Kerr Center's community food projects coordinator.
McLain said the watermelon was popular in Edmond, which used 432 of them last August and September, but other fruits and vegetables will be more practical during the bulk of the school year.
"A lot of produce ripens during the summer and unfortunately, we're not in school in the summer," McLain said. "We could be looking at fall and winter crops for more selection during the school year."
James S. Tyree is CNHI News Service Oklahoma reporter.
