Summer is winding down, but fresh fruits and vegetables are still available! The Missouri Department of Agriculture has a program to reimburse child care programs for purchasing fresh fruits and vegetables that are from a Missouri farmer or farmers market with produce grown in Missouri.
The Missouri Grown program through the Missouri Department of Agriculture is providing up to $1,000 reimbursement to:
To be eligible, child care programs must purchase specialty crops from a Missouri farmer or farmer's markets that sell Missouri-grown produce. What is a specialty crop? Good question. Specialty crops cover a broad range of fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, herbs, and other horticulture. The key part of the program is that fruits and vegetables purchased must be grown in Missouri to support Missouri farmers.
Curious to learn more?
Have a specific question? Contact Lexi Jose at the Missouri Department of Agriculture. She can be reached at Alexis.jose@mda.mo.gov.
Child Care Aware® of Missouri will also be hosting a 30-minute Q&A time with Lexi Jose from the Missouri Department of Agriculture on September 1 from 1:00p-1:30p to answer any of your questions.
To register for the meeting:
Testimonial
Karen Adams, a family child care owner in St. Ann, is currently participating in the program. Karen is excited to feed the children in her program more fresh, seasonable foods. It has been a wonderful learning experience for the children to try new foods that they could not find or afford to purchase in the grocery store. They tried Fairy Tale Eggplant. The children were curious because it was not something they had seen before. While not everyone liked it, everyone tried it, which was a win itself!
Karen makes the ten-minute drive to visit Farmer Andy once a week. She has her menu basics planned but fills in the fruits and vegetables to see what treasures Farmer Andy has each week. She is looking forward to receiving tomatoes to make homemade spaghetti sauce with the children, which will freeze for future use. The families are excited to see the children trying new foods and enthusiasm for gardening.
One of the most impactful reasons Karen is participating in the program is that she knows and trusts the growing process of the food she serves to the children. It has provided the opportunity to network, build a relationship and support other small business owner within the community
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