Farm-to-school projects have been widely supported by policy makers with funding provided at both the federal and state levels. Still, many of the outcomes of this inflow of policy and funding remain unclear. In 2018, New York State (USA) announced the 30% NY Initiative that increases school lunch reimbursements by $0.191 per meal if districts purchase at least 30% of their ingredients from New York farms. With detailed school food purchasing data from the Buffalo City School District for both before and after the Initiative started, we analyze the gross and net economic impacts of the increased local spending on the state economy through a customized input-output model. Results show net positive economic impacts of the policy, even when a negative household impact is applied to account for the cost of the initiative to taxpayers. For every dollar in additional reimbursement offered through the Initiative, economic impacts to the state increase by $1.54. However, at least 65% of the increase in local spending must represent new sales to final demand to ensure a benefit cost ratio above unity.