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Even in the fall when local orchard trees are heavy with fruit, apples that end up on trays in school cafeterias in Frederick or Carroll counties could have traveled hundreds of miles before reaching their destination.

While school systems try to serve local products to students, they have not been able to guarantee that the fruits and vegetables they serve come from farms in Maryland and not from the fields of California or the orchards of Washington state.

This cycle has been common for school systems throughout Maryland. It was driven by complex federal laws and a market where demand for low prices sometimes trumps support for local producers.

But a new statewide initiative is helping school systems break away from that cycle.

This week, school systems around the state are celebrating the Homegrown School Lunch Week (Sept. 22-26).

Students in Frederick County, for example, have been munching on apples from the Catoctin Mountain Orchard in Thurmont and tasting locally grown watermelons and cantaloupes.

During the Homegrown School Lunch Week, schools highlight locally grown products and use them to teach students about healthy eating as well as the dynamics of local food production in their area.

The initiative will expand in future. The Maryland State Department of Education is developing guidelines for teachers, so they can include nutrition and agriculture education in their classroom curriculum, said Stewart Eidel, who oversees school and community nutrition programs at the Maryland State Department of Education.

"The goal is connecting Maryland farms to the classroom," Eidel said.

It is all part of the new statewide Farm to School program, created this year as a result of a new legislation promoting cooperation between schools and local producers, Eidel said.

The homegrown lunch school week is only one aspect of the program, setting the scene for years to come, Eidel said.

In addition, the program will also promote the creating of school gardens, where students can learn how to grow fruits and vegetables. It will also encourage schools to plan field trips to local farms, where students can take practical lessons about pollination or soils, for example, Eidel said.

The idea has been greeted with enthusiasm by farmers such as Dwight Baugher, co-owner of Baugher's Farm and Orchard in Westminster. Baugher has supplied nearly 80 bushels of apples to Carroll County Public Schools this year.

But he also said it will be important for the Maryland State Department of Education and the Maryland State Department of Agriculture to set down mechanisms to make it easy for future cooperation.

Staff from the Frederick and Carroll county school systems' food services agreed, and said for now their priority is to establish the foundations for the program, make contacts with local producers, figure out delivery and transportation mechanisms.

"For most of us, this is a beginning step. We are still getting our feet wet," said Eulalia Muschik, supervisor for food services for Carroll County Public Schools.

The school system has promoted the Homegrown School Lunch Week in newsletters for parents and through school announcements for students. Staff is also developing posters, which will inform students where their fresh fruits are coming from this year.

The goal is to raise a generation of informed consumers who understand the origins of the food on their plate.