There’s a lot going on at the state and national level when it comes to Farm to School policies. So much so that it can be overwhelming and confusing when you’re trying to sort out what’s happening, when it’s happening, and what the impact could be. The Food Connects team wants to invite you along as we follow the latest news and encourage our lawmakers to take action.
We plan to stay up-to-date on important legislation affecting Farm to School programming. We’ll also do the work of figuring out its impact, who’s supporting it, its stage in the legislative process, and why we think it’s important. We’d love to hear from you! Share with us the effect one of these bills would have on you and your community or let us know about something important we may have missed.
Your local legislator would love to hear from you too. We’ll be sure to include contact info with each of our updates. It’s important to remind our representatives that the work they’re doing is important and that their constituents care about these issues.
First up, we’re taking a look at the Universal School Meals Bill that has recently been introduced into the Vermont legislature.
Universal School Meals Bill (Vermont) | S.223 and H.812
What it does
Requires all public schools in Vermont to serve breakfast and lunch to all students at no cost to the student or their family.
Reallocates school meals as an education expense to be included with the rest of the school budget. Schools would be required to fund the portion of school meals not reimbursed through federal funds or other revenue sources.
Maximizes federal reimbursement for meals at all schools through existing programs.
Defines the time spent by students eating school meals during class as instructional time.
Provides a five-year transition period and funding to help schools make the move to universal meals.
Provides an additional full-time position in the Child Nutrition Programs at the Vermont Agency of Education.
Why we think it’s important
We see the positive impact Universal Meals makes in our region. The Brattleboro Town School and the Windham Central Supervisory Union both offer free meals to their students. Both districts have seen dramatic increases in meal participation after implementation. This means more students have a reliable source of healthy, nutritious food and the Food Service Programs have more money through federal and state reimbursements to further improve the quality of their food. This is a virtuous cycle that we’d be excited to see expanded to all districts throughout the state.
Who supports it
In the Vermont House of Representatives, there are 27 co-sponsors of the bill, including Representatives Mollie Burke and Emilie Kornheiser from Brattleboro. The Vermont Senate version of the bill has four co-sponsors. Currently, the bill doesn’t have any co-sponsors from southern Vermont. Reach out to your state senator and encourage them to join this bill!
Current status
Both the House and Senate versions of the bill are currently in committee (sub-groups of the House and Senate that focus on specific areas of governance, like education, health care, and transportation). The Senate Committee on Education and the House Committee on Education are both currently discussing the bill. Most recently, the House Committee on Education met to discuss the bill on February 5th.
Interested in more?
Our friends over at Hunger Free VT are leading the charge. They’ve created a website specifically for the Universal Meals bill. They’ve also made a factsheet with more detailed info on what the bill proposes.