Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries Farm to School Program

The following description is a summary of our farm to school plan funded by a 2014 USDA Farm to School Program grant: The Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries will partner with the North Alabama Food Bank, the Alabama Farmers Federation, Alabama Department of Education, and local schools to increase local sales of commodities to be used in school cafeterias. The Alabama Department of Agriculture will implement activities based upon twelve years of experience with the farm to school program that will create a network of farmers who are capable of providing large quantities of locally produced fruits and vegetables to interested schools. These activities will include training for school nutrition workers on handling local produce, GAP training for farmers, and outreach and promotion to the agriculture community and food and nutrition directors about the benefits of the farm to school program.