Impacts of School District Characteristics on Farm-to-School Program Participation: The Case for Oklahoma

Farm-to-School (FTS) programs exist in 50 states. However, many FTS efforts have failed due to operating costs, local food availability, and distribution logistics. There is almost no literature examining the factors impacting FTS program implementation and success, although such information could have value to policy makers, school administrators, and producers interested in FTS. More than half of Oklahoma’s schools provided information on their child nutrition programs, their means of food procurement, and their experiences with FTS (or lack thereof). This information was used in a logit model to examine the correlations between certain school characteristics and participation in FTS programs.