Health

Farm to School Frederick is on a Mission to Make Locally Grown, Highly Nutritious Fruits and Vegetables Available to All Frederick Residents

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FREDERICK, Md. (PRWEB)

After 3 successful years of increasing the availability of locally grown, highly nutritious fruits and vegetables served to Frederick County Public School (FCPS) students, Farm to School (F2S) Frederick is expanding our scope to have an even greater impact serving the residents of Frederick County by forming new partnerships with local hospitals, food banks, soup kitchens and summer meal programs. We accomplish all our outcomes through a network of community members, organizations, businesses, and institutions with a common goal of improving the health and well-being of all people and our planet.

By serving as the intermediary between growers and schools, F2S fostered new partnerships between Frederick farmers and FCPS Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) and scaled up local fruit and vegetable purchasing for the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) and the cafeteria lunch program to $81,109.00 in the 2021 – 2022 school year. FFVP encourages students to try new fruits and vegetables that they might not otherwise have the opportunity to try. Some of the locally grown foods offered as part of FFVP were grapes, pluots, lunch box peppers, bell peppers, broccoli, turnips, a variety of lettuces, orange and white cauliflower, red rover salad radishes, carrots, seckel and bosc pears, kale, and sunflower microgreens. Additionally, FCPS FNS continues to purchase delicious, local apples and other select fruits for the cafeteria lunch program from a Thurmont, MD orchard. The locally grown apples have been a part of the lunch program for the last 10 years!

With 1 in 3 Marylanders facing food insecurity and for those of us living in the “agricultural” County of Frederick, Maryland, we are called upon to do more to ensure locally grown, highly nutritious fresh food is accessible to all Frederick County residents. Farm to School Frederick is increasing the knowledge and skills to grow and prepare highly nutritious foods for health and well-being. We are addressing food waste and support food recovery practices by creating pathways for collecting and donating wholesome food that would otherwise become waste. We are improving access to fresh, nutritious, locally grown food by creating market diversity, and economic growth for local farmers and processors by leveraging large institutional purchasing power to ensure good food for all. We are advocating for the infrastructure necessary to support local food and food processors to be able to ensure the availability of healthy, local food is grown with environmentally sustainable practices.

Funding for F2S Frederick comes from federal and state agencies, foundations, and community organizations, as well as sponsorships and donations from businesses and individuals. To support our mission, sponsor our organization, or make a donation, please visit our website: http://www.f2sfrederick.org.

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