North Colonie CSD Farm-to-School Program Awarded State Funding

North Colonie Communications

October 11, 2024

A Boght Hills student plants a bulb of garlic in the garden.Looking out over the Latham Ridge Garden and Outdoor Learning Space.Kale, flowers and other produce picked from the North Colonie district gardens.Four raised garden beds grow during the summer at Shaker Middle School.Large yellow squash which will soon be harvested from the Shaker Middle School Garden.The garden beds looking good despite the heat this summer.Vegetables and herbs start to grow in the Loudonville Garden.The district’s newest garden, at Loudonville Elementary School, begins to take shape.Small flowers bloom in a garden bed at Shaker High School.Students tend to a flower bed in the SHS garden.

North Colonie Central School District is pleased to announce that we are one of just 16 Farm-to-School programs being awarded funding by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets. 

The project grant in the amount of $99,346 will help increase the access to New York State farm products in school meals, support local food taste tests, and establish engaging agriculture-based instruction within the district. North Colonie is the only school district in the Capital Region to receive this grant and one of only two organizations in the area.

State Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Ball announced more than $1.5 million in funding through New York’s Farm-to-School program, serving students in kindergarten through grade 12. As a whole, the funding is meant to increase the use of locally grown food on school menus, and improve student health, while providing increased economic benefits to New York’s farmers. Since the launch of the Farm-to-School program in 2015, $8.7 million has been awarded to more than 100 projects, benefiting school districts in every region across the State.