October is National Farm to School Month and the Department of Agriculture has announced a new effort to improve students access to high-quality food, in Maryland and nationwide. While the typical approach to school food procurement has been focused on cost, the USDA will partner with the nonprofit Urban School Food Alliance to provide training and technology to school districts to help improve the quality of school food. The partnership seeks to bring regional farmers into the mix. .
The still-looming threat of a federal government shutdown and chaos in Congress have pushed Farm Bill negotiations to the side. Ohio food banks said the uncertainty around federal funding for food banks and nutrition programs is compounding the struggles to meet demand. The deadline to reauthorize the nation s largest food and agriculture legislative package was last month. .
Groups that fight hunger are calling for a fair shake in the upcoming farm bill, which provides federal matching funds for programs that help low-income families afford fresh produce. The Market Match program gives people on Cal Fresh about $15 per market per day to spend at 270 sites across the state. Minni Forman is the food and farming program director at the nonprofit Ecology Center in Berkeley, which runs Market Match. .
This year s Food to Power Harvest Festival marks 10 years since Colorado Springs residents launched a food rescue project to get fruits and vegetables to areas of the city without accessible grocery stores. Patience Kabwasa, executive director of Food to Power, said the fun and fundraising event set for Sept. 23 will help fuel a new decade of capacity building for services still very much in demand. .