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CHAPTER 04: PRIORITY OUTCOMES, INDICATORS AND MEASURES57not prioritize them (Table 14). The first includespossible connections between the financial solvencyof a school district’s nutrition program (to supportlong-term purchase of local foods) and communityeconomic development. A school nutrition program’sability to stay in the black is dependent on a varietyof factors, including school meal participation, whichis commonly referenced in existing literature as ashort-term outcome of newly introduced farm toschool activities, as it may result in added revenuecontributing to the school nutrition program’sbottom line 21,64 . Anecdotally, many school districtsuse existing resources to buy more local foods; atthe same time, there are others who assert the needfor initial start-up funds to develop relationshipswith vendors, provide training to work with morelocal food items and purchase new equipment toprocess local foods 65 . Researchers seek a deeperunderstanding of how farm to school activities affectschool nutrition program finances over time, and ifthere are consistent inputs needed across sites to runa financially viable site with farm to school activities.The second is the long-term profitability any foodoragriculture-related business experiences throughfarm to school involvement. This document puts fortha variety of measures related to the short- and midtermoutcomes of market opportunities and incomegeneration, but more research is needed over thelong term to determine how profitable these effortscan be for those involved.The third longer-term outcome is related to theinfrastructure needed to scale-up local or regionalfood production. Various local and regional foodreports indicate the need for changes in distributioninfrastructure and additional access to financial andmaterial capital to help producers and processorspurchase equipment or other resources in order tomeet a growing demand for local foods 42,65–68 .Policy Outcome: Institutional support for local andregional foodsTracking institutional support for farm to schoolactivities through school district procurementpolicies, state and federal policies, and state agencyprograms and positions is a significant outcomeinfluencing community economic development. Theestablishment of a supportive policy is a first step, itsimplementation is critical to ensure that its intent ismet. This policy outcome aligns closely with policyoutcomes in the environmental quality and publichealth sectors. For example, school wellness policiesare identified as a public health policy outcome, dueto their influence on nutrition and physical activityat schools.• Measures 1.1 and 1.2: These focus on institutionaland state agency local procurement policies.Institutional policies such as school wellnesspolicies or early care center procurementpolicies can include language to support farmto school activities, such as a preference forlocal products, when feasible, or establishmentof school gardens. “Supportive language” inthis context refers to procurement policies thatallow purchasing preferences for state-producedagricultural products 69 . As of October 2013, only22 states had one or more state policies thatencourage state organizations, agencies andschools to use local foods by allowing purchasingpreferences for state-produced agriculturalproducts 69 . If institutions are applying a preferencefor local products, this supports farm to schoolprocurement activities, and can be part of creatinga cultural norm related to expectations of buyinglocal foods.For example, one type of supportive policy at thefederal level is the geographic preference optionauthorized in Section 4302 of Public Law 110-246of the 2008 Farm Bill. It allows participating schoolsto apply an optional geographic preference in theprocurement of unprocessed locally grown or locallyraised agricultural products. Here “unprocessed”means those products that retain their inherentcharacter, such as fruits, vegetables, meats, fish,poultry, dairy, eggs and grains 14,70 . It is in this finalrule that the USDA gave discretion to the procuringinstitution to define their “local” area. Policiesspecifying the ability to purchase local foods ensurethat institutions beyond school districts, such as earlychildhood education centers, juvenile rehabilitationcenters and others can easily access local foods.NATIONAL FARM TO SCHOOL NETWORK