Chapter 2: Getting to 2020: Goals and Indicators
Goal 2: Consumers in institutional settings (e.g., K-12 schools, colleges, state agency cafeterias, hospitals, prisons) will consume more locally produced food.
Vermont institutions--K-12 schools, colleges, the University of Vermont, state institutions, hospitals, and workplaces-- represent a unique opportunity for increasing access to local food and expanding consumer awareness of the benefits of locally-produced food. NOFA Vermont's 2012 institutional purchasing study provides the best available data on the opportunity for expanding the amount of local food at Vermont institutions.
What does the data show? The NOFA study conservatively identified over $11 million in spending that could potentially be replaced with local fruits, vegetables, and eggs. New data from the USDA Farm to School Census indicates that Vermont schools spent 16.2% of their food budgets on local food - the highest amount in New England.
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