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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (July 16, 2015)
community july16 2015 Salem Update: Transportation Disappointment By Representative Brad Witt On Thursday, June 25th, G o v e r n o r Kate Brown declared the much anticipated “transportation package” dead. The stage was set for this train wreck in February when the Legislature went into session. With the mindset that we owed a clean fuels program to a number of special interests, the fate of this legislation was sealed. Even as there was considerable opposition to the Clean Fuels bill, we moved forward and ended up alienating the very groups that we needed to pass the transportation package. In spite of this, opportunities arose within the last month to address concerns for both carbon reduction and transportation needs. You have no doubt read about the “gang of eight,” who worked so diligently to overcome every possible objection, including a way to match or exceed the reduction in carbon emissions provided in the Clean Fuels bill. The final nail in the coffin occurred when the Department of Transportation, that had provided the estimates of carbon reduction, overestimated the reduction numbers. Having said that, there was no attempt to overcome those shortcomings in view of the importance of this package to the transportation infrastructure of our state. $343.5 million in funding, carefully crafted from an increase in gasoline taxes, title and registration fees, would have gone a very long way to mend our broken streets and highways. District 31 would have benefitted from this package in many ways, not the least of which would have been $20 million in funding towards the improvement of Cornelius Pass Road. This truck bypass has become a major arterial in the movement of both people and cargo, and it has become increasingly treacherous, read deadly, over the years. The failure of the transportation package to move is a major disappointment to me and to many of my colleagues whose districts have similar needs. We will redouble our efforts in the next legislative session to once again try to find a way to get the job done. Oregon Leads Nation with Funding for Farm to School for Every School Kids, Farmers, and Rural Communities Win with $3.3 Million Funding Increase All Oregon school districts can receive extra funds to buy and serve local foods, starting this fall, thanks to the Oregon legislature. Oregon has been a national leader in farm to school and school garden programs, and this will be another first: offering funds to all districts that participate in the federal school lunch program, not just the winners of competitive grants. The legislature provided a total of $4,519,189 for this popular program for 2015-17, including a $3.3 million increase in the end-of-session spending bill, SB 5507. Several key program details were also revised through SB 501. Both bills passed the Senate and House on July 6, 2015, in the final hours of the 2015 legislative session. New funding will also be available for food-based, agriculture- based and garden-based education programs to help kids get excited about fresh and healthy foods. “Kids will do many things with beets if you serve them in a cafeteria,” says Kasandra Griffin of Upstream Public Health. “They make great projectiles, they make great face paint. But if a kid grows a beet in a school garden, they will actually eat beets when they are served in the cafeteria or at home, because it reminds them of the time they grew a beet themselves, and they liked it.” Supporters tout a wide range of benefits of the farm to school and school garden program, from reducing hunger, to improving nutrition and reducing the childhood diabetes epidemic, to supporting Oregon’s economy. “Farm to school programs help farmers, processors and rural Oregon,” said House Republican Leader Mike McLane. “I’m proud to support this innovative program that supports our communities while also providing students with healthy and fresh Oregon- grown food.” Representative McLane was a co-sponsor of HB 2721, the stand- alone version of the farm to school bill, before it was folded into SB 5507 and 501. The focus on local can transform the buying habits of schools. According to Megan Kemple of the Willamette Farm and Food Coalition, “Oregon schools spend over $45 million in federal dollars on school lunch ingredients, every year. By investing in farm to school, we can encourage school districts to change their buying behavior and keep more of that federal money circulating in Oregon.” Jane Gullet, the Nutrition Director of Yamhill-Carlton School District, is proof of that type of behavior change. Her district received one of the grants for 2013-15. “The grant changed the way I think about buying food,” she said. “I never thought about this before, but now the first thing I ask any vendor is whether their products are local, or if they have a local alternative. I’m aiming to serve 75% local products.” “Local” is defined as anything produced or processed in the state of Oregon. Over half of the food dollars from the 2013-15 grants were spent on produce, especially apples, pears, and berries, but other local foods also qualify, including meat, seafood, grains, dairy, and even processed foods. Some of Gullet’s favorite local products include vegetarian chili from Truitt Family Foods, fresh lean ground beef from Carlton Farms, and low-fat vanilla Tillamook yogurt. Peter Truitt, of Truitt Family Foods, produces the chili that Gullet buys. “We love selling our Salem-made foods to Oregon schools. It feels good knowing we are providing the nutrition kids need to learn. As Oregon’s farm to school activity has increased, so has the demand for healthy, locally processed food. This creates an attractive market for farmers and food processors. At Truitt Family Foods, we are developing new hummus and bean dips for the school market, and will be able to hire more workers as this business grows.” The amount of funding available per school district will be based on the number of students eating school lunches (per USDA’s National School Lunch Program) there the previous year. All schools are eligible – public, private, charter. Other program changes in HB 2721 include allowing the schools to use the “food” funds for any school meals (not just lunch), separating the funding for educational activities from the Publisher and Managing Editor Scott Laird 503-367-0098 scott@vernoniasvoice.com Contributors Chip Bubl Tobie Finzel Aaron Miller Shannon Romtvedt Sonia Spackman Grant Williams Representative Brad Witt Photography Scott Laird Want to advertise? Have an article? Contact: scott@vernoniasvoice.com One year subscriptions (24 issues) $35 Vernonia’s Voice is published on the 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month. Vernonia’s Voice, LLC PO Box 55 Vernonia, OR 97064 503-367-0098 www.VernoniasVoice.com funding for food purchasing, and making non-profit partners and commodity commissions eligible to apply for the educational portion. This year’s program expansion is a particularly sweet victory for Representative Brian Clem, D-Salem, who has been championing farm to school and school garden bills every session since 2007. “Our goal ever since 2007 has been to provide funding for every school in the state to buy local products,” says Clem. “It took us a few years, but we made it.” Oregon Department of Education manages the grant program, in collaboration with the Oregon Department of Agriculture. They will post updated information soon for schools and other partners: www.ode. state.or.us/go/f2sgardens. 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