Hinchey bill aims to cut red tape in Farm to School program
Published on:
March 30, 2026
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Senator Michelle Hinchey on Monday convened a coalition of farmers, school nutrition staff, teachers, and advocates to call for Farm to School proposal in the final budget. NYS Senate photo.
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ALBANY―New York State Legislative Agriculture Chairs Senator Michelle Hinchey (D-Saugerties) and Assemblymember Donna Lupardo (D-Binghamton) joined a coalition of lawmakers, farmers, and food system advocates in Albany on Monday to call for the full inclusion of their proposal to modernize New York’s Farm to School program in the final 2026 State Budget.
The bill, sponsored by Hinchey, would increase the state subsidy for school lunch meals based on the percentage of breakfast service, lunch service and reimbursable snack program food purchased from New York state farmers, growers, producers or processors.
Currently, schools that source at least 30% of their lunch food purchases from New York producers are eligible for additional State reimbursement of 19.01 cents per lunch meal.
Under the bill, that amount would increase to 26 cents for schools using between 30 and 40 percent; 28 cents for between 40 and 50 percent; and 30 cents if it is above 50 percent.
The proposal requires no new state funding.
“We have an incredible coalition of farmers, teachers, school administrators, nutrition staff, and food distributors standing with us in this bipartisan effort, and we're pushing to get our Farm to School modernization bill across the finish line this year,” Hinchey said.
The State regularly appropriates around $10 million annually for the initiative, but the actual payout has been around $3 million maximum due to participation challenges.
As of 2026, just 83 out of more than 4,400 schools in the state utilize the program, according to the bill.
A recent State Comptroller audit found that New York’s Farm to School program is widely underused due to administrative barriers for schools, including a restriction that limits participation to lunch purchases only.
“New York’s Farm to School program should be accessible to every school district, and we’re fighting to make sure the final budget includes our proposal to cut the red tape that’s keeping too many schools from participating,” Hinchey said.
