History of New York Farms - By Glenda Neff

Building Farmer-Consumer Connections , NY Farms! charge , is made easier when children have grown up meeting farmers, learning about agriculture and food systems, and enjoying local foods. From its beginnings in 1997, NY Farms! gave priority to the goal of bringing together farmers, students, and school communities. Ag in the Classroom was one of the founding participants. The NYS Assembly Task Force on Food, Farm & Nutrition Policy had launched NY Harvest for NY Kids Week, and NY Farms! plunged in publicizing it, promoting it, and assisting its members in helping out at their local schools.

Spring 1998. I was the new Executive Director of NY Farms!, attending a Cornell conference on the regional food system. Bob Stern, NYS Assembly Task Force, pointed out two women and noted: "You want to invite them to join NY Farms! They are the NYS School Food Service Association, and they feed thousands of meals to school children every day!" Betsey Bacelli was one of those women. We did invite NYSSFSA to a NY Farms! meeting. Betsey Bacelli brought Ray Denniston. And as they say, the rest is history , this history of the partnership known as NYS Farm-to-School!!

Early 1999. We had our first meeting of the NYSSFSA NY Farms! Task Force. Food Service Directors, NY Apple Association, Cornell Cooperative Extension, NY Farm Bureau, NY Ag in the Classroom, and individual farmers were invited. We easily agreed on our common goals: serve tasty, wholesome foods, teach children about agriculture and local farms, and build a viable school food service market for New York farm products.

2002. We worked to expand the celebration of NY Harvest for NY Kids by networking and assistance. The NYSSFSA NY Farms! Partnership Award was established to recognize the great efforts of school districts. We held workshops on Farm-to-School at NYSSFSA state and chapter meetings, brought School Food Service to speak at Farm Bureau, Grange, and producer association conferences. We worked with Cornell University’s Farm to School pilots. We publicized the policies on bid processes that encourage purchasing of New York-grown farm products by schools, and educated our legislators about the benefits of Farm-to-School programs for their communities. These efforts paid off when, in 2002, Governor George Pataki signed legislation establishing a New York Farm to School Program. NY Harvest for NY Kids is now an official New York State celebration. The Departments of Ag & Markets and Education are working together to facilitate Farm to School connections

2003. The NYSSFSA NY Farms! Task Force decided to dissolve and formalize what has become a broader network into a NYS Farm-to-School Coordinating Committee.