{"id":74317,"date":"2016-10-22T00:01:29","date_gmt":"2016-10-22T04:01:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=74317"},"modified":"2016-10-22T00:01:29","modified_gmt":"2016-10-22T04:01:29","slug":"locally-grown-new-yorks-farms-to-schools-programs-and-organic-farming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=74317","title":{"rendered":"Locally Grown: New York’s Farms to Schools Programs and Organic Farming"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DiNapoli-Russia-2-IS\"<\/a>Hundreds of New York school districts are increasing children\u2019s consumption of locally-grown fruits and vegetables through farm-to-school programs, while sales of organic farm products are rising as more and more consumers seek healthier alternatives from nearby farms.<\/p>\n

This month, my office released reports looking at both organic farms<\/a> and farm-to-school programs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

My first report found that the sale of organic products rose 56 percent statewide from 2008 to 2014 with $164 million in sales that year, as New York ranked third nationwide in the number of certified organic farms. New York\u2019s top product \u2013 organic cow milk \u2013 ranked second nationally in both sales, at $93.6 million, and in the number of farms, at 402, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture\u2019s 2014 Organic Survey.<\/p>\n

According to a U.S. Department of Agriculture national census of farm-to-school programs, 298 districts in New York, or 43 percent, reported participating in farm-to-school activities. These districts \u2013 with 1,336 schools and nearly 759,000 students \u2013 reported spending $45 million on local food in New York, all while increasing children\u2019s consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables and helping students learn about food production.<\/p>\n

It is my hope that local communities and policymakers will consider steps outlined in my reports to strengthen these important agricultural growth opportunities right here in New York.<\/p>\n

Read my reports: Organic Farms: Growing in New York<\/a> and Locally Grown: Farm-to-School Programs in New York State<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If you have questions, contact Robert Ward<\/a> in my Division of Budget and Policy Analysis at 518-473-4333<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I invite you to follow us on Twitter (@NYSComptroller)<\/a> and Facebook (facebook.com\/nyscomptroller).<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hundreds of New York school districts are increasing children\u2019s consumption of locally-grown fruits and vegetables through farm-to-school programs, while sales of organic farm products are rising as more and more consumers seek healthier alternatives from nearby farms. This month, my office released reports looking at both organic farms and farm-to-school programs. My first report found […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":70442,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23679,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74317","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agfarming","category-top-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74317","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=74317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74317\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/70442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=74317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=74317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=74317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}