A New York congressman, who sits on the House Agriculture Committee, has introduced bipartisan legislation to support partnerships between small farms and local schools.
Democratic Congressman Antonio Delgado of the 19th District has introduced with Republican Wisconsin Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner the Small Farm to School Act. The bill creates an eight-state pilot program where local public schools would be reimbursed at a higher rate for sourcing school lunches from small farmers under the National School Lunch Program. The legislation authorizes $20 million annually for the pilot program. The bill would provide a $0.05-per-lunch subsidy when a component of the meal is sourced from a small, local farm. The cost of the subsidy would be split evenly between the federal government and the participating state.
