Farm Fresh Fridays encourages schools to serve fresh, local food

Program begins in October

FRANKFORT, Ky. (Sept. 23, 2014) — Farm Fresh Fridays, a program to encourage Kentucky schools to provide fresh local foods every Friday, will launch in October in conjunction with Farm to School Month.

“Serving fresh local foods to our school children will provide them the nourishment they need to grow up strong and healthy,” Agriculture Commissioner James Comer said. “It also will provide educators a way to teach them about where their food comes from. At the same time, buying farm-fresh foods helps local farmers make a living. I hope every Kentucky school will participate in Farm Fresh Fridays and eventually serve local Kentucky Proud foods on a regular basis if they don’t already.”

As part of Farm Fresh Fridays, school food service directors will be called upon to procure and serve at least one locally grown Kentucky Proud fruit or vegetable once a month. Schools are also encouraged to educate students about local food and share their Farm Fresh Fridays activities through social media.

Kentucky schools in the KDA’s Farm to School Program served local foods to an estimated 364,000 children in approximately 702 schools in the 2011-2012 school year. A total of 84 school districts are members of the Kentucky Proud program. For more information contact Tina Garland at (502) 382-7505 or [email protected].