St. Lawrence-Lewis Board of Cooperative Educational Services will use $99,099 in state funding for farm-to-table programming.

New York State Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Ball announced that 16 programs have been awarded over $1.48 million in funding through New York’s Farm-to-School program, with St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES receiving a portion of the funding.

Funding provided through the Farm-to-School program helps schools connect with local farmers, increase the use of locally grown food on school menus, and improve student health, while providing increased economic benefits to New York’s farmers.

“New York State’s Farm-to-School program helps schools overcome some of the challenges they may face in sourcing products locally, and makes it easier for them to increase the use of New York grown foods straight from the farm,” said Commissioner Richard A. Ball said. The projects awarded today will help to ensure that our students have access to fresh, healthy foods, increase students’ understanding of where their meals come from, and benefit our local agricultural economies statewide. I’m excited to see these projects come to fruition and look forward to continued connections between New York’s schools and farmers moving forward.”

New York’s Farm-to-School program promotes the purchase and use of New York State grown food in meals served in cafeterias of K-12 schools.

With over 700 school districts in New York State, there is great opportunity to see the many benefits of farm to school programs expand across the State, including preparing children to learn; improving student health and well-being; strengthening the local economy; and building healthy communities. Additionally, the program helps schools and farms address the challenges that make procuring, storing, and serving local food difficult.

The New York State Farm-to-School Competitive Grants Program launched in 2015 to increase the purchase of local food by school districts and individual schools. The Farm-to-School Competitive Grants Program has grown from $325,000 in 2015 to $1,500,000 in Fiscal Year 2022. A total of 57 school districts or not-for-profit organizations working with schools and farms have received over $6.3 million dollars since 2015 to support farm-to-school efforts across New York State.