The U.S. Department of Agriculture has chosen North Carolina to lead a pilot program bringing the trendy concept of farm-to-table dining to public school lunchrooms across the state. As part of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Schools Act of 2010, inspired by the advocacy of First Lady Michelle Obama, the USDA will help underwrite the cost of placing organic produce gardens, livestock grazing areas, and poultry ranges on school grounds.
In addition, school facilities now used for shop classes or science labs will be retrofitted to accommodate dairy cattle and goat milking, along with the processing and cold storage of freshly slaughtered cows, pigs, and chickens. Students will be “an integral part of the process,” said U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
Learn more about the bogus program in this parody from the January 2015 print edition of Carolina Journal.