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Last week, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, announced his intent to introduce the bipartisan American Food for American Schools Act, a common-sense approach to using tax dollars to support American farmers and food producers while doing better for our children. The act would close loopholes to require school districts to buy domestically sourced products for school meals.
"The food our kids get at school should be American-produced food, that supports American jobs in our communities," said Brown. "There's no reason for schools to buy food products from overseas, when they could get fresh fruits and vegetables from Ohio farmers, and when union bakers and confectioners and other workers make bread and snacks and canned foods here in Ohio. Our bill would require schools to buy American products for all in-school meals and ensure American tax dollars support American jobs."
During the announcement, Brown was joined by an Ohio family farmer, a worker at Country Pure foods and a member of the Teamsters union.
"Our family farm knows when we sell at the corner at our local farmers market we are competing on a global scale. Consumers and buyers compare the price of our American-grown produce with the price of a similar foreign grown and imported product," said Bryn Bird, of Bird's Haven Farms in Granville. "With more than 53 percent of produce imported into the United States, American workers at all layers of food industries such as transportation, processing and marketing are hurt. Directing U.S. tax dollars through the American Food for American Schools Act to 'buy American' would bolster agriculture and give our family a more even playing field."
Should the act pass, school districts would be required to obtain a waiver from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to purchase foreign-sourced food products funded by the National School Lunch Program. Any such waivers would only be granted if the domestically produced food was cost-prohibitive or simply unavailable. Such language ensures domestic food producers must remain competitive.
Approval of the American Food for American Schools Act seems like it should be a no-brainer for the folks in Washington, D.C. That is probably all the more reason Brown and fellow supporters of the act will have to work to get it done. No doubt they will; and students, farmers, food producers, and everyone else along the supply chain will be better for it.