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LITTLE ROCK - Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and the Arkansas Department of Agriculture announced Thursday the Arkansas Plate Initiative, a farm-to-table program aimed at providing school meals using ingredients grown or raised in-state.
The pilot program will begin in five schools in 2026, featuring monthly “Arkansas Plate Days” where cafeterias will serve locally sourced poultry, rice, fruits, and vegetables. Participating schools will also receive educational materials, promotional signage, and “Meet the Farmer” profiles to teach students about Arkansas agriculture.
“Arkansas students deserve access to healthy, nutritious foods at school, and the Arkansas Plate Initiative shows meaningful progress in our effort to improve child nutrition and support our farmers and producers across the state,” Sanders said. “Not only will this program give students access to fresh, locally sourced products, but it will also teach them about Arkansas’ largest industry and what it takes to keep it.”
The initiative follows other nutrition-focused efforts by the Sanders administration, including Act 123 of 2025, which provides free school breakfasts to all students, and a program providing produce harvested by incarcerated individuals to the Marion School District.
The announcement comes amid challenges for Arkansas’ agriculture industry, which faces declining commodity prices and rising production costs. Questions about federal program connections or funding for the initiative were not answered by the Department of Agriculture.
For more details on the iniative visit original reporting from Ainsley Platt at the Arkansas Advocate.
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