COLORADO- A bill making its way through the Colorado legislature would incentivize schools for using local produce in school lunches.
Reps. Bri Buentello (D-Pueblo) and Rod Pelton (R- Cheyenne Wells) are the prime sponsors in the Colorado house.
If it passes, it would establish a three-year long grant program for school districts to join.
In the program, they could get up to five cents back from each school lunch using local produce.
The bill also includes beef and dairy products made in Colorado.
‘If they have these steady contracts with school districts where they know they need to produce x amount of you know peaches, Pueblo chiles, corn whatever first of all it’s going to grow rural communities even more so,’ said Representative Buentello.
Buentello says the bill would get healthier and local in front of kids, in addition to giving business to local small and medium-sized farms.
