Assessing the Effectiveness of Oregon’s Farm-to-School Program in Providing Locally Grown, Nutritious Foods to Low-Income, Minority Students

In 2011, Oregon passed a Farm to School (F2S) bill which provided significant funding for F2S programs and explicitly prioritized F2S education grants for schools serving lower-income students. The aims of the study are to: 1) assess the effectiveness of Oregon’s F2S policy in increasing schools’ and districts’ perceived access to state funds and program support, and 2) estimate the reach and adoption of the program among schools/districts serving low-income, minority children. Researchers will use a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods to explore whether Oregon’s F2S policy has improved produce access among schools; early care and education centers; and schools and districts serving low-income children. Result will include descriptive statistics on reach and adoption measures, and an examination of the relationship between independent variables (school/district characteristics) and dependent variables (e.g., dollar amount of local products purchased) to identify traits of schools that participate in F2S and estimate the effect of program participation on produce purchases.