USDA makes grants to expand Farm to School in Ky.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is sending nearly $313,000 to Kentucky in grants under the Farm to School program, which encourages the use of fresh, local food in schools.

Two grants for a total of $87,957 went to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, which manages the program in Kentucky and will use most of the money to expand it. “This will help our children grow up to be healthy and strong,” Agriculture Commissioner James Comer said. “This also will help Kentucky farmers have the certainty of a market for their products.”

Other Farm to School grants awarded to Kentucky were: $100,000 to the Food Literacy Project at Oxmoor Farm Inc., to create a working vegetable farm that will give students hands-on gardening experience and provide vegetables for students in the Jefferson County Public Schools; $79,750 to the Owsley County School District for equipment needed to expand and diversify crops the locally produced foods served in the schools’ cafeterias; and $45,000 to the Taylor County School District for a school garden where students will grow produce that will be sold to the school food-service office. The district also will develop an assessment for its farm-to-school program.