Bills' aim: Fresher foods for students

OLYMPIA — Remember when mom always worried whether you were eating enough fruits and veggies?

As it turns out, legislators are concerned too, and they're looking for a way to help out school kids and local farmers alike.

Bills in the House and Senate would make it easier for schools to buy locally grown, farm-fresh food for their lunch menus.

"I think this bill is a step in the right direction that will crack a little opening in the institutional food mine," said Dick Carkner, who along with wife, Terry, operates Terry's Berries Farm in Tacoma.

"Rather than eating Twinkies and French fries, if we can get kids to eat apples and carrots and develop their taste, you can build positive food habits in children," Carkner said.

The House bill, HB 2798, is sponsored by Rep. Eric Pettigrew, D-Seattle. It defines locally grown food as products grown within the state of Washington, and would cost $4 million to $5 million to carry out.

"It might be hard to sell politically because every other word out of Olympia has so much to do with money, but I think this is money pretty well spent," said Nic Warmenhoven, a teacher at Puget Sound Community School in Seattle who has worked extensively with his students on the politics of food.

Anita Finch, director of Nutrition Services for Seattle Public Schools, said she supports "anything for students to be offered meals that have high nutritional quality. In the end, well-fed students perform better academically."

In addition to helping elementary and middle schools, the bill also would encourage state agencies, colleges and universities to purchase farm-fresh food.

Currently, the state's strict bidding and procurement rules make it difficult for schools to buy locally grown fresh food. Instead, they tend to rely on cheaper, processed foods from industrial suppliers.

The bill would modify those rules to give schools the option of paying a little more to buy from local farmers.

It also would expand an existing federal program under which 25 schools in Washington serving low-income students receive grants to buy farm-fresh food as snacks for kids.

Furthermore, the bill would start two pilot programs: one to help food banks buy from local farmers for low-income families and seniors, and another to upgrade technology at farmers markets.

The technology upgrades would make it easier for farmers to accept credit and debit cards, and electronic food stamps.

Last week, Warmenhoven brought three students to Olympia to meet with legislators about the bill.

Student Josie Olney reminisced about the food in her old middle-school cafeteria.

"It was so bad," she said. "It was just nasty and obviously the cheapest thing they could find. A lot of people would option not to eat anything during lunch."

Fellow student Tamlyn Zawalich added, "The only thing that you could eat that was vegetarian was cheese pizza."

The proposal is gathering strong support from parents as well.

Tiana Colovos has a son at Orca School, an alternative elementary school in Seattle.

"The kids honestly and authentically want fresh foods," Colovos said. "And Washington is so rich in agriculture that it would be a travesty if we're not supporting more than just apples."

With support in the House, Senate and the governor's office, the bill has a solid chance of passing, Pettigrew said.

"This is very scary because I haven't really heard any opposition right now," he said. "I'm just looking to take it step by step by step, and hopefully when it's all said and done, we'll be looking at a huge impact on business and schools."

Yu Nakayama: 360-236-8169 or ynakayama@seattletimes.com