[Community_garden] Farm Bill & school garden amendment update

[Jim Flint]

June 16, 2008

ACGA colleagues and friends,

Below is some good news to share in response to Kirsten Saylor's 
inquiry on the list serve....

Thanks to the leadership of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, 
and the advocacy of garden advocates across the U.S., the 2008 
Farm Bill (HR 2419) includes the community school garden 
amendment reprinted at the end of this email.

The Farm Bill passed the Senate and House in May 14 and May 15 
respectively and was subsequently vetoed by President Bush.

On May 21 and May 22, the House and Senate voted to override the 
presidential veto and enact 14 of 15 Farm Bill  titles into law.

The community school garden amendment was passed into law under 
"Title IV-Nutrition" and "Subtitle C-Child Nutrition and Related 
Programs" of the Farm Bill.

To find the amendment go to:

http://agriculture.house.gov/inside/FarmBill.html

Then click on "Complete Legal Language of Conference Reports" 
(link below) and proceed to page 242, section 4303.

http://agriculture.house.gov/inside/Legislation/110/FB/Conf/CRlang.pdf

Senator Sanders and his staff are currently working with the Ag 
Appropriations subcommittee to fund the community school garden 
amendment. A press release from Senator Sanders office is 
expected later this week, which I will forward via the list 
serv. As with any new legislation, several hurdles remain before 
funding is appropriated to initate a pilot program.

Best to all,

Jim

Jim Flint, Executive Director
Friends of Burlington Gardens
180 Flynn Ave Studio 3
PO Box 4504
Burlington, VT  05406-4504
802-861-4769
www.burlingtongardens.org


SEC. 4303. HEALTHY FOOD EDUCATION AND PROGRAM
REPLICABILITY.

Section 18(h) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch
Act (42 U.S.C. 1769(h)) is amended-

(1) in paragraph (1)(C), by inserting ''promotes healthy food
education in the school curriculum and'' before 
''incorporates'';
(2) by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (4); and
(3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
''(2) ADMINISTRATION.-In providing grants under paragraph
(1), the Secretary shall give priority to projects that can
be replicated in schools.
''(3) PILOT PROGRAM FOR HIGH-POVERTY SCHOOLS.-
''(A) DEFINITIONS.-In this paragraph:
''(i) ELIGIBLE PROGRAM.-The term 'eligible program'
means-
''(I) a school-based program with hands-on
vegetable gardening and nutrition education that
is incorporated into the curriculum for 1 or more
grades at 2 or more eligible schools; or
''(II) a community-based summer program
with hands-on vegetable gardening and nutrition
education that is part of, or coordinated with, a
summer enrichment program at 2 or more eligible
schools.
''(ii) ELIGIBLE SCHOOL.-The term 'eligible school'
means a public school, at least 50 percent of the students
of which are eligible for free or reduced price
meals under this Act.
''(B) ESTABLISHMENT.-The Secretary shall carry out a
pilot program under which the Secretary shall provide to
nonprofit organizations or public entities in not more than
5 States grants to develop and run, through eligible programs,
community gardens at eligible schools in the States
that would-
''(i) be planted, cared for, and harvested by students
at the eligible schools; and
''(ii) teach the students participating in the community
gardens about agriculture production practices and diet.
''(C) PRIORITY STATES.-Of the States in which grantees
under this paragraph are located-
''(i) at least 1 State shall be among the 15 largest
States, as determined by the Secretary;
''(ii) at least 1 State shall be among the 16th to
30th largest States, as determined by the Secretary;
and
''(iii) at least 1 State shall be a State that is not
described in clause (i) or (ii).
243
O:\WEI\WEI08434.xml [file 5 of 16] S.L.C.
''(D) USE OF PRODUCE.-Produce from a community
garden provided a grant under this paragraph may be-
''(i) used to supplement food provided at the eligible
school;
''(ii) distributed to students to bring home to the
families of the students; or
''(iii) donated to a local food bank or senior center
nutrition program.
''(E) NO COST-SHARING REQUIREMENT.-A nonprofit organization
or public entity that receives a grant under this
paragraph shall not be required to share the cost of carrying
out the activities assisted under this paragraph.
''(F) EVALUATION.-A nonprofit organization or public
entity that receives a grant under this paragraph shall be
required to cooperate in an evaluation in accordance with
paragraph (1)(H).'

##

Message: 1
Date: Mon, 16 Jun 2008 09:59:18 -0500
From: "Kirsten Saylor" <ksaylor at greeninstitute.org>
Subject: [Community_garden] Schoolyard Community Garden Program
in US
Farm Bill
To: <community_garden at list.communitygarden.org>
Message-ID:
<D2E9BF980918464DA5D6A4F3256EBD179D560F at tgi-fs01.greeninstitute.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hi,

Does anyone know the status of the provision in the US Farm Bill 
for the Schoolyard Community Garden Program?  Did it survive 
passage of the bill?  If yes, what does it provide for??

Sorry if I missed discussion of the amendment in earlier 
postings!

Thanks!  Kirsten

Kirsten Saylor
GardenWorks, Program Manager
2801 21st Avenue South, Suite 110
Minneapolis, MN  55407
612-278-7123
www.gardenworksMN.org

Promoting and Preserving Community Gardening Across the Twin
Cities