Collins, King Announce $45,000 for Auburn School District’s Farm to School Program

      WASHINGTON, D.C.—United States Senators Susan Collins and Angus King announced today the Auburn School District will receive $45,000 in grant funding from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Farm to School program.
 
      “This important investment will help to increase the availability of local food products on the menus of schools across the Auburn school district,” the Senators said in a joint statement.  “In Maine, we are lucky enough to have a vibrant local food movement, and this investment will make locally-grown food a greater part of the good nutrition that helps put our students in a position to succeed.”
 
      USDA’s Farm to School grants fund school districts, state and local agencies, tribal nations, agricultural producers, and non-profit organizations in their efforts to increase local foods served through child nutrition programs. In addition, the program helps teach children about food and agriculture through garden and classroom education and develops schools’ and farmers’ capacities to participate in the program.
 
      Senator King is a cosponsor of the bipartisan Farm to School Act of 2015, which would strengthen and expand the federal Farm to School grant program.