Project Overview
All six New England states have some form of policy encouraging or requiring that institutions purchase local food products. Yet the laws differ from state to state, and in many cases, aren’t particularly effective. These are the findings outlined in a 2019 report from Farm to Institution New England (FINE) and the Center for Agriculture and Food Systems (CAFS) at Vermont Law School entitled Regional Trends in New England Farm to Institution Procurement Policy.
In 2022, FINE partnered with NOFA-VT and Northbound Ventures on a project to Improve the process of identifying, counting and communicating local food procurement data available to and from Vermont schools. Through this effort we established easy to use, equitable tools for accurately and consistently tracking and reporting the percentage of dollars spent on Vermont local food. More information on Vermont's local food purchasing incentive and the tools developed to support tracking can be found on the Vermont Feed website.
Photo courtesy of the USDA Farm to School Program
Farm to Institution Policy Snapshots by State
We also have compiled the aforementioned state laws and policies into a Policy Scan (PDF).
This project is funded in part by the National Agricultural Library, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. Additional funding was provided by The John Merck Fund and the Henry P. Kendall Foundation.
State Farm to School Policy Handbook
This handbook offers a detailed review of relevant state policies introduced between January 2002 and December 2018. Created in partnership by the National Farm to School Network, Center for Agriculture & Food Systems, and US Department of Agriculture.
Have a comment on these resources? Contact info@farmtoinstitution.org