Farm-to-School: Anatomy of Non-Profit Advocacy by Dr. Alan Koslow

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by Dr Alan Koslow

It was the first Friday in June in 2006. I had a meeting that morning of the advocacy committee of the Central Iowa Chapter of the American Diabetes Association. We were trying to come up with a new agenda for in state advocacy for our chapter of the American Diabetes Association. The meeting was over and we did not have any good ideas. We broke up with a charge to each of us to come up with ideas. We would get back together in a few weeks.

That afternoon I happen to be driving my car about 1:30. Whenever I was driving between 1:00-3:00 PM on Fridays I would listen to Talk of the Nation: Science Friday on the local NPR station.I heard a story on farm to school programs and how they were done in both a small community in California and one in a southern state.   The fact that struck me was how they found this improved the nutrition and the health of the kids in these communities.  I immediately thought that this would be something to consider in Iowa.

My research at the that time led me to a national Farm To School group.  I found out that while there were multiple programs around the country, they were all local programs.  There were no state wide programs.  I saw this as a way to help local farmers and to improve the nutrition of the students and hopefully prevent obesity and diabetes.  I got in touch with a friend of mine who is a State Senator, Staci Appel.  We discussed this and she was quickly on board.  She became the champion of this bill.  The way we first envisioned it was to mandate that 50% of all food sold in Iowa schools within five years be Iowa grown.

Staci really went to town on this and I as the Advocacy Chair of the ADA gave her the support she needed.  This went like gang-busters and the bill was passed the next legislative session 2007.

In 2007, Iowa lawmakers passed Farm to School legislation to establish a program that would link elementary, secondary, public and non-public schools with Iowa farmers; provide schools with fresh and minimally processed Iowa grown food for inclusion in school meals and snacks; and to encourage children to develop healthy eating habits and provide them with hands-on learning opportunities, such as farm visits, cooking demonstrations, and school gardening and composting programs.

The Farm to School Program is coordinated by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship in partnership with the Iowa Department of Education and a seven-member Farm to School Council. The Iowa Farm to School Program will reach out to communities to establish strong partnerships.

Farm to School Initiatives:

Iowa Farm to School Chapter Initiative:

There are currently 9 active Iowa Farm to School Chapters throughout the state. Each chapter has developed and implemented a plan so as to uphold the objectives and mission of the Farm to School Program. Such activities in these chapters include; locally-grown Iowa food procurement, eating fresh fruit and vegetables from Iowa, school gardens, field trips to local farms and orchards, purchase of kitchen equipment to better serve needs of students, educational presentations and materials, food fairs, and classroom activities.

This is one of my initiatives I am very proud of.  It was the first State wide mandated Farm To School program in the nation.  There are now 27 other states that have followed Iowa. I won a Natioanl Advocate of the Year award for my work that led to this.

This Blog Snippets of my life, is going to be a daily blog for at least one year. I will tell stories about me that I hope you find interesting. If you like them please do two things: click to become a follower; and post on your Facebook page or twitter them. I hope to have 10,000 followers by years end. Some stories will be very personal. I will try to remember the correct names of those involved, however, I have a terrible memory for names and some names will be completely fictitious. The stories however are completely truthful as far as I can remember. Hope you enjoy. Some of these blogs may seem mundane. However, they are important foundations for later Blogs.