The Oklahoma Local Food for Schools Program connects public school districts to local producers and processors. It was modeled after a similar national initiative and is administered by the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture Food and Forestry.
While getting local food to students, Brady Womack, rural economic development coordinator, said the program supports the farmers, ranchers and processing facilities.
"I would say that the demand is always good when it comes to trying to put fresh food and vegetables back into our schools, and that this is just a great opportunity to help advocate for agriculture," Womack said.
So far, 267 participating school districts have received the local food for school grant.
It officially began in 2023. Last year, funding was no longer available for the program due to high demand. Now, Ashley Binder, certified procurement officer with the department, said the Oklahoma Legislature allocated $3.2 million this year, and there are about $1.6 million still available.
"It's kind of slowed down a little bit because those districts, a lot of them are smaller districts, and so they don't have the storage space to spend a lump sum," Binder said. "They kind of have to spread it out. So, I think, that's kind of why we still have funds available and it didn't go as fast as the first round that we did."
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