As First Lady Michelle Obama shines the national spotlight on the importance of healthy eating with her Healthy Kids Program, school districts throughout the country are already trying to come up with solutions to the childhood obesity epidemic.

The Portland Public School District launched its Farm to School Program during the 06/07 school year. The district says the goal of the program is to help kids develop lifelong healthy eating habits and to help them get used to eating food that is not overly processed.

The district is working with local farmers to get as much locally grown food on the school lunch menus as possible. Harvest of the month is a part of the program where a different fruit or vegetable is featured on the menu every month. The children are taught how it’s grown as well as about the farmer who grew it.

The district would eventually like to include locally sourced main entrees; however, one of the major challenges is cost. School lunches currently are $2.20 and only about a dollar of that total can be spent on food. The rest goes to labor and other costs. For more information about the Farm to School Program go to: www.nutrition.pps.k12.or.us.