In South Florida, two of the three public school districts are taking advantage of the program. The School District of Palm Beach County is still in the early days of the program, but has spent $27,000 for two serving days of local corn and one serving day of green beans, according to Fran Hickman, commodity and inventory accounting specialist for the school system.
Farmers deliver produce to Sysco Southeast, which, in turn, delivers to the school system weekly. “We pay Sysco the bid price [to the farmers] plus delivery,” Hickman said.
Miami-Dade County Public Schools recently joined the program, according to Carol Chong, director of food and menu management. “Our first orders were for fresh corn,” she said. “But, it’s too early in the program to estimate what we’ll be spending for the year.”
U.S. Food Service in Pompano Beach handles produce from the Farm to School program for her district.
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