Locally grown produce ships as far away as Japan, yet rarely does it land on the lunch plates of our public school students.
One would think the bounty of fruits and vegetables grown in the islands would have found its way into all of the state’s 256 public school cafeterias by now. It’s a shame it has not, especially amid growing calls for local food security.
A new initiative, Farm to School, aims to change that: It is gaining momentum, and ultimately makes good sense. It’s basic economics — supply and demand. Farmers and ranchers here become the suppliers to the state Department of Education, which has a huge demand, serving 110,000 meals a day and spending $39 million a year on food.
Cost has always been the main barrier to buying local produce, but the DOE is now researching ways to tap into the local market, embracing the Farm to School concept. If the state is serious about the “buy fresh, buy local” mantra, then it’s time to put that into practice at our public schools, even if it means starting off on a smaller, more-manageable scale.
Imagine school lunch compartments filled with fresh, frozen pineapple chunks instead of canned fruit cocktail or imported applesauce. Students would likely find local products much more appealing.
Dexter Kishida, school food services supervisor, said the price of local produce has been a big hurdle, but federal initiatives, such as the USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Progam, offer more funding flexibility. The DOE currently spends just $1.93 on food costs for each school lunch, including milk — just 35 percent of the overall cost to produce the meal when labor, overhead and other costs are taken into account.
The DOE, which usually buys in bulk statewide for cost savings, is looking at breaking things down by island or region to allow some direct purchasing in smaller amounts, according to the state’s first Farm to School coordinator. Such a shift in thinking could create opportunities for farmers statewide, from smaller operations to well-established exporters.
Even crops that farmers might not harvest because of size or cosmetic concerns could be used at schools — strawberries in Kula, Maui, that could be turned into puree or Maui Gold’s frozen pineapple chunks cut from fruit too small to sell as fresh whole pineapple.
A flurry of recent activity promoting Farm to School has brought the issue to the forefront, including an information session last week at the state Capitol hosted by Lt. Gov. Shan Tsutsui and the state Department of Agriculture, Hawaii Farm Bureau and Kohala Center. Farmers were able to showcase their products and to get tips on how to become a qualified vendor to state facilities, broadening their market.
The Agriculture Department last month surveyed farmers, ranchers and distributors statewide to determine what’s being harvested, where and how best to get it into the schools, which is a critical first step. Those results will be used to analyze the market, seek proposals and launch pilot projects.
At every turn, the state has said it wants to preserve agriculture and become self-sustaining. If the state is to seriously and actively pursue those goals, a program like Farm to School that feeds public school students healthy, locally produced foods becomes a no-brainer.
