The Farm to School program has $350,000 in grants available to schools, including those in St. Lawrence County, for projects that will help schools obtain and serve healthy, locally grown foods, and two state representatives are promoting the grants.

The Farm to School program is aimed at developing and strengthening connections between farms and schools to help grow the agricultural economy and increase the amount and variety of specialty crops procured by schools for healthier meal options. New York State produces a wide range of specialty crops, such as fruits and vegetables, dried fruits, herbs and spices, which rank highly in the nation in terms of both production and economic value.

Assemblywoman Addie Russell, D-Theresa, says she is encouraging schools to use the grant money “in creative ways including hiring specialists to train staff on local food procurement or purchasing equipment for food preparation, transportation, or storage.”

“These investments are necessary to enable schools to work better with farmers and [use] their harvest,” Russell said.

And Sen. Patty Ritchie, R-Heuvelton, said there are multiple benefits to the program.

“By having more locally grown foods in our schools, we not only improve student health, we also support our hardworking farmers,” said Ritchie. “This initiative builds on the work we’ve done to better connect farmers with consumers, and I’m encouraging schools and organizations to apply for funding to put more healthy, locally grown foods in lunchrooms.”

Applicants for the program can include Pre-K through 12 school food authorities, charter schools, not-for-profit schools, and other entities participating in the National School Lunch or Breakfast Programs and/or operating Summer Food Service Programs.

The application deadline is Oct. 19 at 4:30 p.m.

Projects eligible for grant funding across New York’s school districts may include:

• Employing of a local or regional farm to school coordinator.

• Training programs for food service staff to increase knowledge of local procurement and preparation of locally produced specialty crops.

• Purchase of equipment needed to increase capacity of school kitchen and food service staff to prepare and serve locally produced specialty crops.

• Capital improvements to support the transport and/or storage of locally produced specialty crops.

“We have an opportunity to give students access to better, more nutritious food while opening up a new market to our farmers with this initiative,” Russell said.

Her 116th Assembly District includes all St. Lawrence County communities along the St. Lawrence River, plus Canton and Potsdam.

Ritchie’s 48th District includes the western half of St. Lawrence County including Ogdensburg, Canton and Gouverneur.

All applicants must register at http://on.ny.gov/1MKwsOC and use the program identifier FTSCG.