The Olympian

Lawmakers look to connect local food with schools, Capitol

Bill would route area produce to state cafeteria

By John Dodge | The Olympian • Published January 27, 2008

State lawmakers considering a bill to make it easier for K-12 schools, state agencies and colleges to buy Washington-grown food should stop by the public cafeteria in the Pritchard Building on the Capitol Campus to see how the food connection can work.

Within a stone's throw of the House and Senate hearing rooms where the Local Farms-Healthy Kids and Communities Act was unveiled last week, the Fresh Measures cafeteria operated by the South Puget Sound Community College culinary-arts program was preparing dishes with fruits and vegetables supplied by Lewis and Thurston County organic farmers.

"It's exciting; locally grown produce is coming to the state Capitol," Winlock farmer Susie Kyle told legislators at a House Agriculture and Natural Resource Committee hearing on House Bill 2798.

Working with SPSCC catering coordinator Brook Ahnemann, Kyle rounded up organically grown food from several area farms Tuesday for the first of what should be weekly deliveries to the cafeteria kitchen in the Pritchard Building.

The first order included potatoes, Asian pears, parsnip, Jerusalem artichokes, rosemary, bay leaves and garlic basil sauce, Kyle said.

"I wanted to get some healthy, locally grown food on the menu over there," Ahnemann said of the Fresh Measures, which opened Jan. 14. "I'm getting some really good feedback from the customers."

Next door to the cafeteria, state legislators received good feedback on HB 2798, which has 51 co-sponsors, and a companion measure, Senate Bill 6483.

The bill would:

• Amend state procurement policy to cut through the red tape that can make it hard for state agencies, school districts and colleges to buy locally grown food.

Ahnemann was able to work directly with farmers because the costs of her purchases are below the threshold that triggers state procurement rules, she said.

• Create a Farm-to-School Program in the state Department of Agriculture, linking local farms to local schools to improve access to fresh fruits and vegetables for schoolchildren.