Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring announced on Monday that 11 North Dakota communities will be assessed for the possibility of establishing a direct link between local agricultural producers and school lunch programs.

“The next phase of our ‘Going Local’ initiative is to become a Farm to School state,” Goehring said Monday, at a news conference at the Youth Correctional Center school garden in Mandan. “The goal of the national Farm to School program is to bring healthy food from local farms to school children. The program teaches healthy eating habits, while providing local farmers with a new direct market.”

Goehring said the assessment will be conducted through surveys to determine which communities would be most supportive in establishing a local Farm to School program. The surveys will be conducted in October in Mandan, Bowdon, Dickinson, Fargo, Grand Forks, Grant County, Hazen, Jamestown, Minot, Napoleon and Valley City.

“The information collected in these surveys will also be valuable in measuring the growth of local food production and consumption in the state,” he said. “Anything we can do to expand market options for farmers is helpful in developing a more diverse agricultural economy.”

Goehring said that North Dakota is one of three states that do not have a profile with the national Farm to School program.

“We have some catching up to do,” he said. “I am confident that with the growth of local food production and the support of parents and school officials, we will see more and more local foods appearing on school lunch menus across North Dakota.”

Since the Farm to School program was started in the 1990s, more than 2,000 local programs have been established in 40 states.