Bill Text: HI SR96 | 2016 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Farm to School Month; October

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2016-03-31 - Report and Resolution Adopted, as amended (SD 1). [SR96 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2016-SR96-Amended.html

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THE SENATE	S.R. NO.	96
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2016		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE RESOLUTION

 

 

DESIGNATING THE MONTH OF OCTOBER OF EACH YEAR AS "FARM TO SCHOOL MONTH" IN HAWAII TO STRENGTHEN AND SUPPORT FARM TO SCHOOL INITIATIVES IN HAWAII'S SCHOOLS.

 

 

     WHEREAS, research and experience in schools across the country are increasingly demonstrating that school children significantly increase their consumption of fruits and vegetables when given a variety of choices in school; and

 

     WHEREAS, providing fresh local produce in schools benefits local farmers and school children; and

 

     WHEREAS, farm to school initiatives are a driving force behind food system change in Hawaii; and

 

     WHEREAS, farm to school initiatives connect schools and local farms with the objective of serving healthy meals in school cafeterias, improving student nutrition, and lowering childhood obesity; and

 

     WHEREAS, farm to school initiatives provide students with access to fresh, local foods, as well as educational opportunities, including school gardens and farm field trips; and

 

     WHEREAS, farm to school initiatives enrich the connection that the community has with healthy food and local food producers; and

 

     WHEREAS, the average age of Hawaii's commercial farmers is over sixty years old and action is necessary to encourage students to look at career paths in the farming industry and increasing farm-related workforce development; and

 

     WHEREAS, Act 218, Session Laws of Hawaii 2015, invested in developing a coordinated statewide initiative to enrich connections between the healthy choices of locally grown food, keiki, schools, and farming communities; and

 

     WHEREAS, designating a "Farm to School Month" is an opportunity to highlight the State's farm to school programs, and to highlight and launch initiatives for our developing farm to school programs; and

 

     WHEREAS, in 2010, the United States House of Representatives passed a resolution designating October as the "National Farm to School Month"; and

 

     WHEREAS, during the "National Farm to School Month", schools across the country celebrate local food served in their cafeterias, schoolyard gardens, and the food and agricultural enrichment occurring in the classrooms; and

 

     WHEREAS, the designation of the month of October of each year as "Farm to School Month" in Hawaii will support farm to school initiatives in our schools, and empower children and their families to make informed food choices while strengthening the local economy and contributing to the community; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2016, that the month of October of each year be designated as "Farm to School Month" to strengthen and support farm to school initiatives in Hawaii's schools; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Superintendent of Education, Chairperson of the Board of Agriculture, Dean of the University of Hawaii at Manoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, and Hawaii Farm to School and School Garden Hui.

Report Title: 

Farm to School Month; October