skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Getting the Cafeteria Connected to the Farm

play audio
Play

Tuesday, April 6, 2010   

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - There are lots of schools in Iowa and lots of farms, and there is a lot to be gained for students and farmers when farm-to-school programs help fuel Iowa cafeteria lines. School food service directors across the state and nation are starting to take a more serious look at programs that connect local farmers to the process of feeding schoolchildren.

Adele Philips of the Center for Rural Affairssays that in Iowa food sometimes travels more than 2,500 miles before reaching kids' plates. Philips says growing up on a dairy farm that hosted urban students taught her that there are often misperceptions about where food comes from.

"Even though there were milk cows standing in front of us, they thought milk came from a grocery store and the grocery store made the milk."

Philips says farm-to-school not only provides healthy food choices for kids, but also creates economic opportunities for local farmers.

She says the farm-to-school programs have great potential for teaching, on top of the health benefits.

"Food education doesn't have to just happen in the cafeteria or in the lunch line. They can work these programs into their classrooms as well."

According to Philips, these programs also provide an opportunity for the schools and communities to work together.

"It creates a wonderful relationship between the students and the taxpayers and the farmers who are supporting their school district."

Philips adds that farms can make great outdoor classrooms and farmers enjoy the opportunity to welcome students to their farms.

A workshop on the program is scheduled at the University of Northern Iowa on April 15 for food-service directors, farmers, community members and interested individuals at Malcolm Price Lab School, which is involved in a farm-to-school program.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021