Mississippi Small Farm Product Amounts, Seasonality, and Proximity to K-12 Public Schools

Jessica L Thomson; Alicia S Landry; Tameka I Walls; Randall McMillen

doi:10.3390/ijerph20043572

Mississippi Small Farm Product Amounts, Seasonality, and Proximity to K-12 Public Schools

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Feb 17;20(4):3572. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20043572.

Authors

Jessica L Thomson¹, Alicia S Landry², Tameka I Walls¹, Randall McMillen³

Affiliations

¹ US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Stoneville, MS 38776, USA.
² Department of Nutrition and Family Sciences, University of Central Arkansas, Conway, AR 72035, USA.
³ Geosystems Research Institute, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS 39759, USA.

Abstract

The study's purpose was to determine small farm product amounts and seasonality and examine spatial relationships between small farms and K-12 public schools in Mississippi. Online survey participation invitations were sent via email to farmers and school food service directors from October 2021 to January 2022. Data were summarized using descriptive statistics and proximities between farms (n = 29) and schools (n = 122) determined using spatial analysis. Median yearly amounts for both fresh fruits and vegetables ranged from 1-50 to 201-500 pounds while other product amounts ranged from 1-50 to >1000 pounds. Fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, and other product seasonality ranged from 1 to 6 months, 1 to 12 months, and 3 to 12 months, respectively. In total, 8 out of 12 fresh fruits, 24 out of 25 fresh vegetables, and all other products were harvested during the academic school year. Fifty percent of the schools were within a 20-mile radius of at least one small farm, while 98% were within a 50-mile radius. While many product amounts were small (1-50 pounds), most were harvested during the school year and in close proximity to at least one school. Contracting directly with farmers may be more attractive to school food authorities given current supply chain disruptions and decreasing product availability for school meal programs.

Keywords: Mississippi; farm to school; local foods; online survey; public schools; small farms; spatial analysis.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Farms
Food Services*
Fruit
Mississippi
Vegetables*

Grants and funding

This research and APC were funded by the USDA Agricultural Research Service, project number 6001-51000-004-00D. The findings and conclusions in this article are those of the authors and should not be construed to represent any official USDA or US government determination or policy. USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.