ODAFF Farm to School Initiative Awarded 2007 Champions of Children's Health Award
News Date October 17, 2007
Oklahoma's Farm to School Initiative won the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Oklahoma's "Champions of Children's Health Award" for 2007. The program is a partnership between the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry (ODAFF) and the Kerr Center for Sustainable Agriculture with dual goals of benefiting local farmers and educating young people about good nutrition.
"The Farm to School program began in 2003 and today it reaches over 400 schools in 35 school districts," said Oklahoma Agriculture Secretary Terry Peach. "Our current focus is on fruits and vegetables but we plan to include other commodities such as meats and poultry in the future."
He said students at participating districts were excited about having the opportunity to eat locally grown foods in their school lunch programs.
"Our program offers fresh products that are much better tasting than many of the other items normally provided and this really helps our Farm to School program teach them about nutrition and healthy eating habits," Peach said. "I believe this is the best tool we have to help fight childhood obesity by altering our children's eating habits."
The success of the program, along with extensive outreach and support of children's health advocates, led to legislation in 2006 establishing a statewide Farm to School program and allowed the ODAFF to add a full-time coordinator for the project.
"It was such an honor and surprise for us when we learned about winning this prestigious award," Peach said. "We were one of 20 nominations and the competition included some of the finest health and social services organizations in the state. It was a very humbling experience." (Contact: Jack Carson, 405/522-4575)