Unprocessed Fruits and Vegetables

Unprocessed Fruits and Vegetables

Unprocessed Fruits and Vegetables. I'm Greg Martin with Washington Ag Today.

A pilot program aimed at the use of unprocessed fruits and vegetables in schools was mandated by the 2014 Farm Bill. Schools can use their USDA entitlement dollars to buy more locally-grown, minimally processed produce. That means more dollars going to local farmers and distributors for fresh produce. Tricia Kovacs is the Program Manager for Small Farm Direct Marketing and Farm to School programs.

KOVACS: This project allows schools more flexibility when using their USDA schools food budget to buy from multiple vendors who would be selling fresh produce and part of the goal is to allow them to buy more local produce.

She says they are working to get more farmers and processors connected to the program.

KOVACS: While it's called Pilot Project for Procurement of Unprocessed Fruits and Vegetables, unprocessed in USDA terms actually means minimally processed or whole. So it may be unprocessed but it could also be sliced, diced, chopped, washed and bagged which is really convenient for a lot of schools.

Our school kids should benefit as well.

KOVACS: Hopefully it means they'll be getting more fresh local produce through the standard system, the schools will be putting more of their dollars towards produce and we think through Farm to School that it's also important for kids to know where their food is coming from and to lear about agriculture and food systems in their communities and to make healthy food choices.

And that's Washington Ag Today. I'm Greg Martin, thanks for listening on the Ag Information Network of the West.

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