HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	111
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2014
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the department of education to partner with the department of agriculture, office of planning, hawaii farm bureau Federation, and other agricultural stakeholders to develop a farm-to-school program to provide locally grown produce to salad bars At all public schools in the state.

 

 

     WHEREAS, academic research and actual experience in schools across the country are increasingly demonstrating that school children significantly increase their consumption of fruits and vegetables when given a variety of choices in school salad bars; and

 

     WHEREAS, when offered a number of fruit and vegetable choices, children will likely try new foods, incorporating greater variety into their diets, and increasing their consumption of fruits and vegetables; and

 

     WHEREAS, the benefit of salad bars in schools extends beyond the healthy foods consumed during the breakfast or lunch hour; and

 

     WHEREAS, increased access to fruits and vegetables provides students with choices that can promote positive behavior that can carry over outside of school, creating habits for a lifetime of healthy snack and meal choices; and

 

     WHEREAS, the White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity has endorsed schools using salad bars and upgrading cafeteria equipment to support providing healthier foods to kids; and

 

     WHEREAS, Kamaile Academy, a conversion charter school in Waianae on the island of Oahu, is a model of healthy eating for public schools in the State; and

 

     WHEREAS, Kamaile Academy boasts a cafeteria with a salad bar that offers students fresh and healthy choices for lunch, often including produce that was grown on campus; and

 

     WHEREAS, providing fresh local produce in Hawaii's schools benefits local farmers and Hawaii's school children; and

 

     WHEREAS, the establishment of a farm-to-school program in which local farmers provide produce to be served in Hawaii public schools' salad bars will not only provide local farmers with a market for their products, but will also educate students on the nutritional, environmental, and economic benefits of preparing and consuming Hawaii-grown produce; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-seventh Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2014, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Education is requested to partner with the Department of Agriculture, Office of Planning, Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation, and other agricultural stakeholders to develop a farm-to-school program to provide locally grown produce to salad bars at all public schools in the State; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education is encouraged to provide salad bars at all public schools in the State; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education is requested to report to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Sessions of 2015 to 2019 on its efforts, including any proposed legislation, to develop and implement a farm-to-school program using locally grown produce and provide salad bars at all public schools; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Board of Education, Superintendent of Education, Chairperson of the Board of Agriculture, Director of the Office of Planning, and President of the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Department of Education; Farm-to-Table; Salad Bars