Valley Vision's Sacramento Region Food System Collaborative, a RUCS partner, is working to increase the regional food system by facilitating marketing opportunities for locally grown products. Currently, only 2 percent of all food consumed in the region is locally grown. One strategy of the Food System Collaborative is to reach out toinstitutions able to purchase in volume fromlocal farmers. Last year, the Food System Collaborative approached the Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD), which feeds 46,000 students. The SCUSD's Board of Education knew that a large percentage of their students get most of their daily nutrition from school meals and vending machines, and needed healthier fare than the district's food service offers. School board Vice President Patrick Kennedy met with Valley Vision board directors and Food System Collaborative members, including Shawn Harrison of Soil Born Farms, and Patrick Mulvaney, a Sacramento restaurant owner and caterer who highlights local sources on his menus.
The SCUSD board subsequently formed the Healthy Foods Task Force, and was the first institution to officially endorse Valley Vision's Regional Food Charter. The district's Healthy Foods Task Force now includes 17 individuals from diverse constituencies, including parents, faculty, district foodservice staff, students, Harrison, Mulvaney, Robyn Krock of Valley Vision, and Bill Maynard, the city of Sacramento's community garden expert.
Shortly after the creation of Sacramento's Healthy Foods Task Force, First Lady Michelle Obama kicked off a national initiative to end obesity, coinciding with the appointment of a federal task force, billions in proposed child-nutrition legislation, and a White House vegetable garden.
Kennedy has already seen results, and expects healthy returns from the program. "On the first day of school this year I visited 14 different schools," said Kennedy recently.
"For the first time, I saw fresh fruit and vegetables at every lunch counter. This should be a small thing but it is a big deal. By offering healthier foods in school, the district's 46,000 kids will benefit."
For more information on the district's task force, contact Gabe Ross at Gabe-Ross@sac-city.k12.ca.us or (916) 643-9145. For more information on the Food System Collaborative, contact Robyn Krock at robyn.krock@valleyvision.org or (916) 325-1630 or visit www.foodsystemcollaborative.org.