Hot News

3.04.2008

By STEPHANIE JORDAN
Associate Editor

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Last week Maryland delegates heard testimony in support of House Bill 696, which would establish the Jane Lawton Farm-to-School Program.
The purpose of the bill is to promote and facilitate the sale of Maryland farm products to state schools and facilities.
Folks testifying on behalf of the bill said the program would help improve communication between the farm community and schools so that they can work together in a mutually beneficial way.
To show the House Environmental Matters Committee how easy it would be to funnel Maryland products into schools, the Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) brought in apples from a Washington County farmer.
MDA, in written testimony to the committee, stated that there are more than 950 farm-to-school programs in 35 states.
Farmers could have problems trying to supply food in the “quantities and conditions that meet the needs of the farmers and the institutions,” the statement reads, but MDA and the Maryland Department of Education are willing to work together to make farmers aware of available opportunities to sell to schools.
The Maryland Agricultural Education Foundation (MAEF) also testified in support of the bill, and expressed the importance of establishing the Maryland Home-Grown Lunch Week that is proposed in the bill.
“Agriculture is a tool to teach other subject areas,” said George Mayo, MAEF executive director. MAEF submitted possible lesson plans that teachers could utilize during the Home-Grown Week to teach students about where their food comes from, including learning the differences between a beef cow and a dairy cow and looking at the different types of corn grown in Maryland.
The Department of Legislative Services estimates that the bill will cost $123,000 in Fiscal Year 2009 to implement.