Published October 16, 2015

Farm-to-Table Now Coming to Public Schools

At the Interdisciplinary Research Symposium in Foodservice Decisions at Penn State University, students and scholars from around the world presented their findings and theories about the future of the food service industry. One clear trend discuss at the symposium is the desire many public school districts have to increase the amount of local food they serve to students. One study by Victor Motta showed that cost and availability issues hinder schools’ attempts to purchase and serve local food products. Conversely, a study by David Carnage showed that implementing programs to grow food in on-campus gardens was actually profitable, confounding expectations that gardens would be a money drain.

Sourcing food from gardens and local producers would be a great way for school officials to support sustainable food production and feed students more fruit and vegetables. School food programs are a great opportunity to educate the next generation of food consumers, and hopefully farm-to-table and local food initiatives will teach students to be mindful of their eating habits even when they become adults.

Read the full article here: Students Present Foodservice Research in International Setting

Link: http://news.psu.edu/story/375296/2015/10/14/research/students-present-foodservice-research-international-setting