Vermont governor Peter Shumlin wants to see local farms provide food for schools, food banks and other government subsidized food programs. Shumlin said he wants to replace an existing U.S. Department of Agriculture commodities program that ships bulk food into the state for distribution to schools, food pantries and other programs with a voucher system that would allow states to spend federal nutrition funds on locally grown food.
Under the current system the minimum order of food is a tractor trailer load. This food then needs to be stored in a refrigerated storage facility, sometimes up to a whole year. “It’s a system that was set up in the 1930s. It’s antiquated, it’s inefficient and it’s ineffective,” says Robert Clifford, food service director in the Essex Junction-based Chittenden Central Supervisory Union and co-chair of a statewide association of school food service chiefs.
“We will ask for direct funding, possibly through vouchers, to enable the folks in each state who are dealing directly with food programs for children to buy locally and choose the most nutritious food products that make the most sense for children in their programs,” Shumlin said.
At Downey Insurance we think this makes the most sense. Local food from local farms. This will not only benefit the recipients of the food which are often children, but it will support the local farm community. Downey Insurance is a strong supporter of our local farm community by providing protection via a broad spectrum of Vermont Farm Insurance products for mini-farms through large scale operations.
Read the full article at NECN.com