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Call or Write Your State Representatives Today to Help K-12 Schools Serve More New York Grown Food to New York Kids

New York state leaders and lawmakers are entering final state budget negotiations, and we need YOUR help to keep Farm to School programs strong. The state farm to school incentive and grants programs work hand in hand to bring more New York grown food to students in K-12 schools and are poised to help New York rebuild from the COVID-19 pandemic by driving investment in resilient local food supply chains and contributing to public health by improving child nutrition. Take action TODAY to voice your support for these programs as the Governor, State Senate, and Assembly work together to finalize this year’s state budget!

TAKE ACTION: Call or write your state representatives today to let them know you support strong funding for both of these critical programs which help schools put more healthy, local food on our children's plates while supporting our state's farmers!  

Not sure who to call? Find your state senator or assemblymember. Below is a suggested script to help you communicate with your representatives about the important opportunity before us: 

“I am a constituent in your district, and this year I am calling to ask you to take two actions to support our state’s Farm to School programs. First, to support $10 million for the Farm to School Reimbursement Incentive and $1.5 million for the Farm to School Grants program in the state fiscal year 2022 enacted budget. Second, to support language to ensure that all schools who qualified for the incentive during the 2019-2020 school year receive their reimbursement, no matter which program they are using to serve meals to students during the state of emergency that has extended through the 2020-21 school year. Farm to School programs help grow our farm economy and strengthen our communities while improving the health of our kids. Thank you for considering these requests!“  

With just one click on the “Take Action” button, enter your information and send a customized letter directly to your state representatives in support of strong funding for these critical programs which improve the health of our children and support our state’s farmers! 

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Call or Write Your State Representatives Today to Help K-12 Schools Serve More New York Grown Food to New York Kids

NYS Senate and Assembly Members

Subject: Please Support Farm to School in the New York State Budget

Message:

I am a New Yorker interested in increasing access to healthy, local food in schools, and I am writing to urge you to support $10 million in funding for the Farm to School Reimbursement incentive and $1.5 million for the for the Farm to School Grants program in the SFY22 Enacted Budget, as proposed in the Governor’s executive budget and the Senate and Assembly one house budget bills. New York state has become a national leader in farm to school, helping schools spend more of their food dollars at New York farms and serve healthy fresh local food to kids by creating and funding the New York State Farm to School Reimbursement Incentive and increasing investment in the Farm to School Grants program. These programs work hand in hand to support our farm economy while increasing access to fresh, healthy, local food for our children—addressing food insecurity, helping our rural communities grow, and building the resilient local supply chains we need. The Farm to School Reimbursement Incentive program quadruples the per-lunch-meal reimbursement for schools that spend at least 30% of their lunch budget on food from New York farms and helps schools increase their purchases of local food by addressing the number one barrier to doing so: cost. In addition to supporting $10 million in funding for this program, I also urge you to support legislative language ensuring that all schools serving meals through USDA summer meals programs during the state of the emergency caused by the pandemic are eligible to receive the extra reimbursement they earned from this incentive, as was proposed in the Assembly’s Education, Labor, and Family Assistance bill (A3006-B, Part A). I also hope you will support the expansion of the Farm to School Reimbursement Incentive beyond lunch to other school meals in the future so that we can continue to improve child health at school and support more farmers. The Farm to School Grants program works hand in hand with the incentive by helping schools hire farm to school coordinators, purchase equipment, train staff, and build the capacity they need to increase their purchase of New York grown food and reach 30%. Farm to school coordinators play an essential role connecting schools with local farmers and producers. Helping schools grow their Farm to School programs and capacity means that more students across New York will have access to healthy, local foods during school meals, which provide on average half of a child’s daily calories. This is more important now than ever due to high rates of child food insecurity brought on by the pandemic. Thank you for your consideration of these requests to keep these critical programs strong in the SFY22 state budget. With your leadership, New York can take major strides forward in growing our Farm to School programs, a win-win for farmers and kids!

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