Ecotrust in the News
Southern Oregon Mail Tribune
June 21, 2009
By Deborah J. Kane
Legislature should add fresh food to school lunches
Other states invest resources to supplement the national school lunch and breakfast program, but Oregon currently doesn't allocate any state funding to school meals. HB 2800 will change that by strategically allocating lottery resources to schools so that they can purchase more Oregon- grown, -processed and -manufactured foods for the lunch room.
HB 2800 also allocates state resources to support agriculture- and garden-based education efforts in schools. A pilot program under way in Portland Public Schools and Gervais Public Schools has definitely shown the positive impact that investing in school food could have for Oregon.
We already know that $1 spent on school food locally triggers economic impacts well beyond the agricultural sector: For every $1 we spend on Oregon products, an additional 87 cents continues to cycle throughout the Oregon economy.
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