Starting Wednesday school children in Macon will be getting more fresh fruits and vegetables. The produce will come from local farms.

Bibb County is joining the national Farm to School program. It matches school nutrition programs with local farmers. It also helps schools start gardens, bring in chefs, and include agriculture in schools' curriculum.

Right now around 8 school systems in Georgia are participating with more signing on all the time. Bibb County nutrition director Cleta Long says she bought more than 100 flats of strawberries this week.

“We want the cafeteria to not just be a place to get food and eat, which is our primary purpose, but it also needs to be a learning laboratory.”

In March state lawmakers passed a resolution asking the State Department’s of Agriculture and Education to get more local foods in Georgia schools.

Tags: Georgia Department of Education, Bibb County Schools, Georgia Department of Agriculture, Georgia Organics, Farm to School program