Farm to school expands + pear farmers face a make-or-break harvest – What happened in Colorado?
Callicrate Note: Wondering what happened in Colorado with the successful ballet initiative to feed kids healthy local food? We Farm to school expands + pear farmers face a make-or-break harvest A news briefing from Farm Action’s policy team August 18, 2026 Farm to school program now used by 70% of Idaho schools What happened: Idaho’s Farm to School program is helping build connections between schools and local farmers, creating pathways to locally sourced foods in school lunches. The Farm to School program began in 2013, and since has seen 70% of Idaho schools opt to participate. Funding for the program is additional to regular USDA school lunch program funding, helping school cafeterias struggling with rising costs. Through the program, school cafeterias build their menus around food that is local and in season, and the program often helps build a stronger understanding among school children of how and where food is grown. Source: KMVT Why it matters: Local food purchasing programs that link producers to buyers in their community provide significant benefits for farmers and communities. Programs like the Farm to School program in Idaho provide consistent, steady markets for farmers, while increasing local access to healthy foods. The high rate of subscribers to the program speaks to the benefits on both sides of the program. Increasing local food purchasing programs like this one is an important way to create stronger supply chains that are insulated from food supply shocks, like food safety issues. By bolstering local purchasing and supply chains, communities will see increased access to reliable, fresh, and healthy food that supports producers and consumers. Hood River’s pear farmers are fighting to stay in business What happened: Pear growers in Oregon’s Hood River Valley are facing another make-or-break harvest after a disastrous 2025 season left many farms struggling to stay afloat. Growers lost an estimated $40 million to $45 million last year after a severe outbreak of pear psylla damaged fruit, while a surplus harvest and the closure of a nearby cannery pushed prices down. Lesley Tamura, a fourth-generation pear grower, spent roughly $300 to produce each bin of pears last year, only to receive anywhere from nothing to about $150 from the packinghouse after damaged fruit was discarded. In some cases, growers were even billed for the cost of disposing of the fruit. The financial squeeze extends beyond last year’s losses. Pear growers describe themselves as “price takers, not price makers,” with retailers and packers largely determining what they ultimately receive for their crops. Oregon pear farmers received an average of $473 per ton in 2025—the exact same amount they received in 2008—while inflation has risen 54% over that period and production costs, including labor, fertilizer, and fuel, have climbed substantially. Some growers have borrowed heavily to stay in business, while others have sold their orchards to larger operations or walked away altogether. Source: High Country News Why it matters: These pear growers are absorbing the costs and risks of farming without much say over what their crop is worth. They pay to grow, harvest, pack, and store their pears—while the price they receive has barely changed in 17 years. For farmers who may not know their final payment until months after harvest, one bad season can put an entire operation at risk. That imbalance is difficult to separate from the structure of the specialty crop market. An estimated 80–90% of fresh produce is marketed through large grower-shipper-packers (GSPs), giving these companies significant leverage over independent growers. When a small number of companies control the path between farmers and retailers, growers have less ability to negotiate for a fair price. As a result, the consequences extend beyond individual farms. Orchards disappear, farms change hands, and the next generation has fewer opportunities to enter the industry. If we want a resilient food system, we need a fairer balance of power—one where farmers have a say in the value of what they produce. Thanks for reading the Farm Action Policy Feed! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support our work.
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