School Supported Agriculture

School lunch gathering by the Alice Waters Institute for Edible Education & Regenerative Agriculture Smithsonian National Museum of American History, Washington, DC 19 October 2024

In October 2024, the Alice Waters Institute hosted a gathering for School Supported Agriculture at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. The concept proposes using Department of Agriculture funds for school breakfasts and lunches—$22.4 billion in 2024—to purchase food sourced from organic and regenerative farms located close to school districts. The Waters Institute aspirations for School Supported Agriculture are to improve children’s nutrition, health, and learning; to revive the economy of rural America; to reform our ailing food system; and to mitigate agricultural contributions to climate change.

As proof of concept, the cost per lunch served on 19 October = $2.77; well within the USDA reimbursable rate of $4.25 per lunch. The menu included: fall vegetables with dipping sauce; deviled farm eggs; three bean soup with roasted acorn squash and cornbread; apples, pears, and grapes. All produce was sourced from farms within the Washington, DC area.        

Related reading

Feed the Kids, by Michael Pollen in The Washington Post, October 18, 2024