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<title>Michigan Department of Education Press Release</title>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><a name="_MailEndCompose">FYI – for those offering or considering summer food programs, this is exciting news.<o:p></o:p></a></p>
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<b><i><span style="font-size:44.0pt;font-family:"Times",serif"><img width="234" height="90" style="width:2.4375in;height:.9375in" id="_x0000_i1025" src="https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/fancy_images/MIMDE/2016/05/885142/mde-logo-transparent-small_original.png" alt="MDE Logo"><em><span style="font-family:"Times",serif">
News Release</span></em></span></i></b><o:p></o:p></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Contact: Martin Ackley, Director of Public and Governmental Affairs, 517-241-4395</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> Bill DiSessa, Spokesperson, 517-335-6649</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p align="center" style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:center"><strong><span style="font-size:20.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif">Michigan Lands $70K Grant to Grow</span></strong><o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align:center"><strong><span style="font-size:20.0pt;font-family:"Helvetica",sans-serif">Farm-to-School Program</span></strong><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"> <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">June 27, 2017</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">LANSING – Michigan schoolchildren soon will eat more fresh, locally-grown produce thanks to a farm-to-school grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA), the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) announced today.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">“Hundreds of applicants from across the nation competed for limited funding, so I’m very excited that Michigan was selected as a grant recipient amid such overwhelming interest in this latest
round of USDA Farm to School Grants,” State Superintendent Brian Whiston said.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">In announcing the $70,280 grant, the USDA said Michigan’s application stood out because it “demonstrated your strong experience and readiness” to oversee ongoing farm-to-school initiatives.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Michigan’s funding will help strengthen partnerships and improve farm-to-school data collection to support achieving a goal of public K-12 schools purchasing at least 20 percent of their fruits
and vegetables from local sources by 2020.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Specifically, the MDE plans to use the funds to:</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Expand school food service director (FSD) networks and cultivate their leadership via a new Cultivate Michigan Farm to School Leadership Institute;</span><o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="color:black;margin-top:12.0pt;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:0in;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo1">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Host a series of regional Cultivate Michigan Marketplace networking events to help FSDs strengthen relationships with local food suppliers;</span><o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="color:black;margin-top:12.0pt;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:0in;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo1">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Build a more stable, informed school market for local food producers; and</span><o:p></o:p></li><li class="MsoNormal" style="color:black;margin-top:12.0pt;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:0in;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo1">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Develop more FSDs as community food systems leaders.</span><o:p></o:p></li></ul>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The grant project is a collaboration among the MDE, Michigan State University (MSU) Extension, MSU’s Center for Regional Food Systems, The Ecology Center, and Michigan Department of Agriculture
and Rural Development (MDARD).</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:12.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:0in">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">For the past decade, Michigan has supported several farm-to-school efforts, such as 10 Cents a Meal, an effort by MDE and several state partners to improve school nutrition, encourage local
produce consumption, and incentivize economical farm-to-school produce pipelines in communities statewide. Schools purchase and serve local produce and are reimbursed by up to 10 cents per meal under the pilot program.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">In Michigan, 47 percent of K-12 students are eligible for free or reduced-price meals through USDA Child Nutrition Programs. MDE administers the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast
Program, Child and Adult Care Food Program, Summer Food Service Program, Food Distribution programs, Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, and various local purchasing efforts such as Farm to School, Farm to Institution, and 10 Cents a Meal.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">For more information about Michigan’s farm-to-school efforts, please contact Jaime Malnar, MDE School District Consultant, at 517-335-3792 or Colleen Matts, Farm to Institution Specialist, MSU
Center for Regional Food Systems, at <a href="mailto:matts@msu.edu">matts@msu.edu</a> or 517-432-0310.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<a href="http://links.govdelivery.com:80/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbXNpZD0mYXVpZD0mbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTcwNjI3Ljc1MTQ4NDcxJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDE3MDYyNy43NTE0ODQ3MSZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmc2VyaWFsPTE2OTM0NDE5JmVtYWlsaWQ9bGFuY2FzdGVyYzVAbWljaGlnYW4uZ292JnVzZXJpZD1sYW5jYXN0ZXJjNUBtaWNoaWdhbi5nb3YmdGFyZ2V0aWQ9JmZsPSZleHRyYT1NdWx0aXZhcmlhdGVJZD0mJiY=&&&100&&&https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/MIMDE/2017/06/27/file_attachments/837871/Farm%2Bto%2BSchool%2BGrant%2B.pdf" target="_blank">Farm+to+School+Grant+.pdf</a><o:p></o:p></li></ul>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN"><img border="0" width="1" height="1" style="width:.0104in;height:.0104in" id="_x0000_i1032" src="http://links.govdelivery.com:80/track?enid=ZWFzPTEmbXNpZD0mYXVpZD0mbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTcwNjI3Ljc1MTQ4NDcxJm1lc3NhZ2VpZD1NREItUFJELUJVTC0yMDE3MDYyNy43NTE0ODQ3MSZkYXRhYmFzZWlkPTEwMDEmdHlwZT1vcGVuJnNlcmlhbD0xNjkzNDQxOSZlbWFpbGlkPWxhbmNhc3RlcmM1QG1pY2hpZ2FuLmdvdiZ1c2VyaWQ9bGFuY2FzdGVyYzVAbWljaGlnYW4uZ292JnRhcmdldGlkPSZmbD0mZXh0cmE9TXVsdGl2YXJpYXRlSWQ9JiYm"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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