My good friend Beth Collins made this happen – it’s truly a testament — to the positive difference we each can make.

Tools for Change – One Letter Leads to Legislation

In March at the first Farm to School Conference held in the state of Michigan the gap between the way we’d like our schools to reflect the food system and the tools the schools have to change it was vividly brought into focus.

Like many states Michigan follows the federal guidelines for how to go about buying local food for a school district.  The Feds suggest utilizing the small purchase threshold as an easy way to enter the farm food purchasing arena without the cumbersome process of sealed bids.  The Feds small purchase threshold is 100,000 and they say to use that as a guideline unless your state has a different one.  Michigan’s is 19,650.

The “best example” of a farm to school program in Michigan is Traverse City – a district of 10,000 with a 1.8 million dollar food budget they spend the Michigan “limit” each year of 19,650.  Approximately 1 percent of their entire budget.  The director there said there’s no question she could easily spend 100,000 if she was “allowed.”

Though I know that there are districts that would simply ignore the regulations and buy – there are a lot more who being fearful of retaliation by the state don’t even venture into the arena of local foods because it’s “too complicated”.  Even Traverse City developed a lengthy “informal” bid sheet that farmers have to fill out in order to do business.  Frankly, I was just dismayed.  Opportunity squandered!

I was upset enough with some encouragement from my good friend Ann Cooper to write an Op Ed.  The local paper did contact me but never printed it but what turned out to be a better deal was the local non-profit working in the ag arena that has a large web newsletter circulation posted it and the calls started coming in.  The Michigan Farm Bureau even called! 

This week the House submitted an edit to existing legislation to lift the small purchase threshold for food purchases in schools in Michigan.  A simple paragraph to an existing bill essentially relaxes the system so that not only could a school spend 100,000 – they could spend more than that.  The only restriction is that if the purchase is a single transaction of 100,000 the district would have to put it out to bid.  Not bad at all!!

This process was very instructive – folks had known for a while that this threshold was a barrier, but nobody had communicated it.  I am new to the state, but not new to the profound effect linking to local farms can have on a program.  My astonishment at the situation here prompted the Op Ed.  Now we just have to follow through to make sure the legislation passes!