Mission & Goals

Farm to School is a joint project of the REAP  (Research, Education, Action, and Policy) Food Group and the University of Wisconsin's Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems (CIAS).

Mission

REAP's Farm to School program seeks to introduce healthy foods grown locally and sustainably to Wisconsin schoolchildren while developing stable markets for the producers and processors of those foods. By building respectful, working relationships between school educators, the school food service and our local food producers, we will establish a Midwest farm-to-school model to grow and thrive into the future.

Short-term goals

• Understand the barriers and opportunities involved in creating institutional markets for local food products, with a particular focus on the Madison public school food service.
• Pilot a program to increase the amount of fresh, local and sustainably grown foods in Madison pilot school lunches (so that children of all income levels have access to Wisconsin's highest quality agricultural products).
• Create effective links between classrooms, school cafeterias, and local farms and restaurants with educational opportunities focusing on the local food system and nutrition.
• Work with allied organizations to explore how "value-added" / minimally processed local products can serve the local institutional market.

Long-term goals

• Continue to strengthen supply and demand for locally and sustainably grown food products in Madison's public schools.
• Secure continued funding to facilitate institutionalization of a district-wide farm-to-school program in Madison and to expand the program to other Wisconsin communities.
• Develop a state, local or school-district food policy that incorporates legal precedent for school food services purchasing local and sustainably raised food.