Senate committee green lights food procurement bill
Sen. Jason Howell, R-Murray, (right) testifies Tuesday on Senate Bill 5 during the Senate Agriculture Committee meeting. Joining Howell is Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Jonathan Shell. A high-resolution photo can be found here.
FRANKFORT — A bill crafted to help Kentucky farmers more easily share their products in students’ meals advanced Tuesday during a Senate Agriculture Committee meeting.
Sen. Jason Howell, R-Murray, and sponsor of the measure, said one of the prime goals is to put more locally grown produce into schools to benefit students’ nutrition, among other things.
“I think this opens the door to expanding out this arena and having more and more of our local produce be able to go, not just into schools and hospitals, but to be able to develop and push into the mainstream market,” Howell said.
Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Jonathan Shell said the legislation would start the process of decentralizing the current procurement system in schools so that farmers’ access to school markets can be bolstered.
SB 5 seeks to break barriers and overcome procurement challenges created by large conglomerates, he said.
“A lot of it’s federal. Some of it’s state, but it’s all-around procurement,” Shell said. “It’s all-around sourcing. It’s all-around guidelines and programs that they’ve put in place in policy that really have created barriers to limit access for locally grown food.”
Shell said there’s a larger plan to market farmers’ products outside legislation, and many stakeholders are working on these efforts.
Shell said officials with the state education department have been cooperative and open to changing the way procurement has happened for the last 30 years.
Sen. Shelley Funke Frommeyer, R-Alexandria, asked Shell if agriculture discussions are happening in classrooms and if parents are asking for more farm-raised food in cafeterias.
Shell said many stakeholders are collaborating to teach students about agriculture, and there’s a focus on students at elementary schools. He said, for example, that agriculture becomes relevant in life because math equations can be used to build a barn and to feed cattle. They also learn about nutrients and how food affects their bodies. School nutritionists have procured locally grown foods during agriculture week and taught students the origins of food, he said.
Senate Majority Whip Mike Wilson, R-Bowling Green, said his family is from Mississippi, and he comes from a long line of farmers. He said he appreciates the legislation.
“Most people, especially kids today, do not know where their groceries come from. They think they come from Kroger. So, I appreciate your efforts in education and especially this in getting it into the schools along with the MAHA that we’re doing,” he said, referencing recent Make America Healthy Again initiatives.