Community Gardens Bloom Opportunity

I got out and dug in the dirt this weekend. I weeded and prepared a couple of beds, started cleaning up trash (there is still mounds of up), and cleaned out and old potting shed. I am trying to start up our school garden again, which has been inactive for several years. Just today I have had both parents from the church next door and the school stop by asking when the plots will be available. I share this only to demonstrate that the people in this area are SO eager to do well by their families and their community.
Even though this community is fairly rural, it still technically lies within city lines. Consequently, they have no representation for the specific needs of their region within the legal or political sphere; even though there needs are staggeringly different from those in the metropolitan area of the city. The school is usually the only the channel many of these families have to be heard.
When I speak to parents on the subject of school food, most say they are dissatisfied with the school food, but are also unable to fulfill all the nutritional needs for their family given the lack of access to fresh food, lack of education, and lack of economic means to overcome these obstacles. Considering all these obstacles, most of them do not complain about the free and reduced breakfast and lunch. However, the first question they ask about a community garden is if the produce will be served in the cafeteria. The status quo is low quality, high fats, high preservative, prepackaged, and ships a couple of thousand miles, just the way the food service corporation likes it. There is so much potential for mobilization here.
The food service provider contracted with our school work with two main clients: schools and jails. I am quite sure they will not give up half of their business in schools easily. If we could divert a percentage of the budget from going to a big company for food services and instead directed that money into the community, it would greatly benefit the quality of life of our residents and students. Funding for a small scale project such as this would satisfy the parents, be better for the students, and benefit the entire community. On a larger scale, if there was money to stimulate local businesses (I know there are poultry and egg farms nearby) the benefits would be multiplied indefinitely for community moral, economic opportunity, and a more stable sense of home for many students who feel caught between two worlds.