A reach for local foods
Excitement over farm-to-school push
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Riverhead High School senior Isaiah Rigel Wesson eats pepperoni pizza whenever it's served for lunch, and says he never eats fruit or vegetables at school, only at home.
And they left feeling optimistic.
"With a little help from the powers that be, I think that this can really happen," said Karen Ball, a meeting attendee and the Riverhead School District's food service director. "This is something we've been trying to work out for a long time."
The group discussed several ways around roadblocks that have stood between the schools and local growers in the past. Among them are financial concerns, a peak growing season that coincides with summer vacations and the lack of a centralized system to distribute produce to thousands of schools.
"Basically, the orders are relatively small, and it's very difficult to accommodate the kinds of deliveries [the farmers] would need to go to the individual schools, unless there's some sort of consolidation of orders," said Joel Panagakos, vice president of produce for J. Kings Food Service Professionals, a Holtsville-based distributor.
Mr. Panagakos, who was also at the meeting in Melville, said growing season issues could be solved by focusing on fruits and vegetables harvested in the fall and late spring.
Thursday's meeting was convened by the state Department of Agriculture and Markets. Although it was hosted by Mr. Schumer, he did not attend, and was represented by a member of his staff.
Many in attendance felt it significant that the state is suddenly very interested in farm-to-school programs because it would have to supply some or most of the funding to run the programs.
"The districts were saying they get 20 cents per meal per child [from the state]," said Joe Casa of Mt. Sinai, a food distributor and broker. "We discussed introducing some legislation that could, say, make it 60 cents or 70 cents if they buy the local products. That's an incentive for the school districts. Mr. Schumer's aide was very interested in that."
"What does the state get out of it?" Mr.Casa continued. "The state might get back more with keeping the money in the local economy. Right now that money is leaving the state and not coming back."
He said that Mr. Schumer, who has a good relationship with the state's farmers, could use his political clout to secure proper funding for locally grown programs.
Phil Schmitt, a Riverhead farmer who attended the meeting, said he felt funding is the chief concern of school officials. But he was encouraged by their positive attitudes.
"No doubt about it, the fresh fruits and veggies cost more than the junk food," he said. "And there's prep involved and everything else. But some of the guys said, 'If we all want this to work, we can make this happen.' "
Schools aside, Mr. Schmitt said he and other farmers have attended numerous government-sponsored functions over the years, be it at public hospitals or government halls and offices. Out-of-state fruit and vegetables are usually served at the events, he said.
"I would go upstate and they would be serving Washington apples," he said. "We always asked, 'Why are they outsourcing these products when they're available right here in the backyard?' Well, because that's where their distributor was getting them from. The connection's just not there."
Mr. Schumer was quoted in a press release as saying his motivation for hosting the meeting, other than wanting to support the farming industry, is to help bring the healthiest foods to New York's school children. "Connecting our local producers, who produce high-quality foods, with Long Island schools is a win-win. I am hopeful that we can make some great strides in understanding the problem and outlining solutions."
As for distribution barriers, meeting participants discussed potential warehouse sites in central Suffolk, or a school with large facilities where a distributor such as J. Kings could drop off produce from East End farms, and from which other schools could collect the goods.
"My gut feeling is that they think it's harder than it really is," said Mr. Casa, who is credited with devising a distribution system that now gets East End-grown produce to supermarkets such as King Kullen and, more recently, Waldbaum's and Pathmark.
"If everybody gets on the same pages, it's doable," he said. "It could be a win-win for everybody. Now we have to plan some follow-up meetings."
mwhite@timesreview.com
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