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Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, has 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 kids. 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."
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. "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."
Approval of the American Food for American Schools Act seems like it should be a no-brainer. That is probably all the more reason Brown and fellow supporters of the act will have to work to get it done.