(Courtesy photo) The Nashua Soup Kitchen & Shelter's spring garden, one of several urban community gardens icreated in spaces throughout Nashua.

NASHUA — Proposed legislation that, if passed, would appropriate $600,000 from the fiscal 2023 general fund to allow for the creation of a farms-to-schools reimbursement program, will be the topic of a gathering Friday morning at the Nashua Soup Kitchen & Shelter, 2 Quincy St.

The program is scheduled to run from 11 a.m. to noon. Speakers include representatives of Grow Nashua, a United Way of Greater Nashua affiliate that focuses on creating urban vegetable farms in the city and in schools; the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Hampshire (NOFA NH); and Nashua-based Regenerative Roots Association, which builds and advocates for community farms and farm-to-school programs in public schools.

The bill — HB 1657 — is intended to “incentivize New Hampshire school districts and food service directors to purchase locally grown and locally produced food … in school cafeterias throughout the state,” according to Stacey Purslow, coordinator of the Farm-to-School program at the University of New Hampshire’s Sustainability Institute.

The bill, assigned to the House Education Committee, was introduced Jan. 5. One hearing has been held to date, which took place Jan. 12. The bill is due to move out of committee and onto the House floor by Feb. 17.

The bill’s prime sponsor is state Rep. Alexis Simpson, Democrat of Exeter, who is one of 10 sponsors that include a mix of Democrats and Republicans.

“We want to increase the number of schools that can spend money on local food, as well as the total amount of money spent in the New Hampshire agricultural economy,” Simpson told the New Hampshire Bulletin in a recent interview.

The state Department of Education would administer the program, according to Purslow, the UNH farm-to-school program coordinator. Of the $600,000 appropriation, $40,000 would be used to support information technology related to the program.

For more information on the program, or on Friday’s event in Nashua, contact Purslow at Stacey.Purslow@unh.edu or go to www.nhfarmtoschool.org.

Dean Shalhoup may be reached at 594-1256 or dshalhoup@nashuatelegraph.com.

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