Access to Healthy Food In The News Updated November 2007 The NCSL Healthy Community Design Project regularly collects resources of interest to legislators, policymakers and those interested in nutrition access-related issues. We provide the links below for informational purposes only, and they do not necessarily reflect NCSL positions. "Local Carrots With A Side Of Red Tape" This article from The New York Times examines efforts to get local Empire State produce into school cafeterias in New York city schools. While the idea is popular with producers and buyers, they must both grapple with the fact that the mechanisms necessary to transport, process, and prepare the food are not in place, the victims of a large-scale food system that creates multiple obstacles for getting local food into schools and other government institutions. “We spent the last 40 years getting out of the local food business so I figure it’s going to take a few years to turn that around, ” says Richard Ball, a farmer working with schools to get "carrot coins" into schoolchildren's bellies. New York has experienced significant success with getting sliced apples into the New York City school district and does have legislation that aids farm-to-school efforts, but this article gives a thorough examination of the roadblocks farmers and the schools must overcome to get more fresh produce onto school lunch trays. For a good summary of the considerable effort New York State's legislature and state agencies have put into enabling farm-to-school programs, click here. Return to Access to Healthy Food Menu Page |