Farm to school programs

The following are quotes from Dorothy Brayley from KIDS FIRST about supplying local schools with Rhody Fresh Milk and local food. For more info: http://cels.uri.edu/rhodyag/docs/Dorothy%20Brayley__Kids%20First__7.14.pdf
(Taken from the new RhodyAg.com website.)

• "Did your know that Rhody Fresh has 8oz containers of milk which would be perfect for schools, but schools are currently not purchasing them. Schools are willing to pay more for RI milk, but a main barrier is around providing and serving refrigerators/coolers for the milk which are currently provided by Garelik. It seems that Newport is working through some of these issues and is poised to buy from Rhody Fresh. If successful, other schools will follow."

And did you know that
• "34 of the 36 school districts and many other institutions are served by either Sodexo, Aramark or Chartwells food service companies. These companies are reluctant to change the model and purchase food direct from farmers and prefer to work through a distributor in the middle as it is easier to deal with one account and to do so in large volume. So farm-to-school programs must work with the middle distributor. Farm Fresh RI is working to be this middle man by creating a one-stop distribution network."