Research, Public Policy, and the Challenge of Farm-to-School Food Programs.

Feeding Muskegon’s school children healthy, local food will not be an easy task. Significant barriers to this goal exist in…

• State and federal purchasing policies that control school food service decision-making,
• Michigan state agricultural policies that do little to encourage farmers to grow for local consumption,
• Budget priorities for school systems in hard economic times,
• A national advertising culture that promotes unhealthy food to children,
• A lack of formal recognition of the link between good nutrition and improved student performance,
• The addictive nature of much of the food marketed to and consumed by children,
• Inattention to the health, economic, and environmental consequences of conventional, oil-dependent farming.

To help Muskegon County residents understand the inter-relatedness and complexity of these barriers, the Task Force will post relevant scientific articles, studies, and media coverage in four general areas:

• Nutrition, learning and behavior
• Farm to School programs & policy
• Local, organic farming and food production
• Nutrition and health