Good Fruit Grower

August 2011

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BUY LOCAL gets a boost New government rules allow buyers—such as school districts—to state local preference when letting food bids. by Richard Lehnert T Many growers have children in school and have been frustrated that their taxes have been paying for apples from competitors for school lunch programs. he “buy local” movement got a shot in the arm this spring when the U.S. Department of Agriculture implemented a new rule allowing some buyers— especially schools—to specify local foods when seeking bids. They can even pay a premium for local foods—and still qualify for free food or federal reimbursement under the School Lunch Program and other feeding programs. Previously, buyers who procured food through big distributors were unable to state a geographic preference when letting bids. The New York Apple Association picked up the news and issued a press “We sold all our deep fryers two release that was widely published in June across the state, where there has been frustration about not being able to specify local apples. The Michi- gan Apple Committee has been addressing the same question: Why are our kids eating Washington apples when we grow enough and then some? "Kids now have the opportunity to have fresh, crunchy, local New York apples in their school lunches years ago.” —Jim Liebow instead of apples that are 3,000 miles old," said Jim Allen, president of the New York Apple Association, in the press release. "Many of our farmers have kids in the local school sys- tems but have been unable to get those schools to buy their apples," he said. "This has frustrated our growers for years, especially when their school taxes end up buying apples from competitors." The change was mandated in the 2008 Farm Bill, but it took USDA two and a half years to write the rule, which was published this spring. While apples have been the big topic in New York and Michigan, the rule covers all unprocessed or minimally processed fruits and vegetables. It applies to purchasing institutions supplying child nutrition programs, such as the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, Child and Adult Care Food Program, and Summer Food Service Program. It does not apply to purchases made by the Depart- ment of Agriculture, according to the Federal Register. When the USDA makes commodity purchases, as it often does when crops are large, it cannot state a geographic preference. Impact not clear It is not clear how much impact the rule will have. Even before the new rule, schools had the option of buying local produce direct from producers, but most school dis- tricts procure food from distributors that are able to deliver a mixed truckload of all kinds of foods. David McClurg, vice president for marketing for the New York Apple Association, said some schools had already learned ways to step around the old rule against specifying origin. For example, in New York, school food- service directors found they could specify a variety, like McIntosh or Empire, and they would virtually be assured the school would get a New York apple. Now, however, they can get New York Red Delicious or Honeycrisp by specifying that it be locally produced. Buying locally Jim Liebow, foodservice director for the Brockport School District in Brockport, New York, said his school has had a “buy local” program for many years and has solved many of the problems that go with it. 8 AUGUST 2011 GOOD FRUIT GROWER www.goodfruit.com

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