A bill aimed at bringing more locally grown produce to schools passed the Kentucky Senate’s Agriculture committee Tuesday.
Senate Bill 5, sponsored by Sen. Jason Howell, would create a legal pathway for school boards and districts to purchase “Kentucky-grown agricultural products.”
The Murray Republican senator presented the bill Tuesday alongside Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture Jonathan Shell. Howell said the legislation is the product of his collaboration with the Department of Agriculture, the Legislative Research Commission and the Department of Education, something he said puts the bill “in unique air.” He expects the brief measure to help get more locally grown food into the state’s schools, hospitals and marketplaces.
“I think it's ironic that this bill’s a half-page long and, if this thing unfolds like we want over the course of the next few years, it could be the most significant thing that I sponsor for my district my whole time here,” Howell said.
Shell explained that the bill should break down barriers for procurement of locally grown food for schools and said the state’s Department of Agriculture has a plan beyond the legislation to benefit both educational institutions and farmers. The bill is in line with the “all-encompassing strategies” laid out in Shell’s Food is Medicine initiative, which works with the Kentucky Hospital Association and the Farm to School program to put more local produce on school lunch tables.
Programs geared toward providing locally grown food in schools have changed in the last year with the cancellation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Local Food for Schools Cooperative Agreement Program in early spring of 2025. Shell said he thinks this “simple” policy shift will make it easier for Kentucky schools to up the amount of locally produced food in their cafeterias, a goal the ag commissioner said should gain bipartisan support.
“I think that you will find that this is something that will get a lot of support from all areas, all political sides, and from not only our school districts and our ag community, but the people as a whole,” Shell said. “Because, I think, all of our parents and all of our families want to make sure that, if we're feeding anybody the right stuff, it's our kids.”
The bill now moves to the senate floor.
