The Louisiana Senate has passed a bill that would implement farm-to-school programs in all of the state’s public schools, pushing the legislation forward to the state’s House representatives.
The Louisiana Farm to School Program Act, proposed by Sen. Francis Thompson, D-Delhi, would require that the state’s departments of agriculture and education develop farm-to-school programs, reports thenewsstar.com.
Highlights of the bill include providing schools with an inventory of farms to choose from, educating them on how to cultivate a relationship with farmers and providing schools with information about how to process and prepare fresh food onsite, according to Louisiana Farm to School, a network of local agriculture groups that helps new and existing farm-to-school programs in the state.
“We should have more local, healthy, raw and minimally processed food in our school cafeterias,” Thompson told the website. “There are 46 other states with some form of farm-to-school projects. It’s been far too long since we’ve addressed the issue.”
Read the full story via thenewsstar.com.