Opportunities and Challenges for Marketing Leafy Salad Crops in the Farm-to-School Program

Abstract

Farm-to-School programs were established to encourage partnerships between farmers and local school systems in order to increase the consumption of fresh, nutritious, locally produced fruits and vegetables in school lunch programs. Most Florida grown produce is currently sourced to schools through traditional contracted wholesale channels by availability of commodity and lowest price scenarios, which result in a low percentage of Florida grown produce being consumed. Several successful local farmer-to-local school system partnerships have been established in Florida but there is potential for more, considering the growing support for local food systems and the economic and social benefits that they bring to local communities. The challenges and opportunities for adopting more Farm-to-School partnerships are described with special reference to the production, marketing and consumption of leafy salad crops.