Carrots and Tomatoes 101: More Schools Helping Children Grow, and Eat, Their Own Food

When Lynette Romney realized her three children were eating sub-par cafeteria food, she plowed the way for a school garden.

by Rachel Stern

When Lynette Romney realized her three children were eating sub-par cafeteria food--rife with prepackaged products and low on fresh vegetables-- she looked to the fertile Spokane, Wash. lands around her for a solution.

Between February and March, she organized a school garden program on five acres of district land between the three elementary, middle and high schools in the East Valley School District in Spokane. As of April, students in the schools’ botany classes were growing 14 beds of carrots and tomatoes for the cafeteria.

"Helping kids be active in this style of food production helps them learn that you don't grow Twinkies, you grow whole foods," said Romney.

More schools around the country are teaching children to grow their own food, often to eat in their cafeterias.  The healthier lunch and lifestyle programs come at a time when First Lady Michelle Obama is pushing students to produce their own fruits and vegetables through her recently launched "Let's Move!" campaign.  The United States Department of Agriculture furthermore set aside $1 million in funding to jump start both school and community garden pilot programs.

Educators say these programs have a tangible effect on children's food choices, prompting them to eat healthier fare. According to a recent study by the UC Berkeley Center for Weight and Health, students who have more exposure to school gardens are more likely to dine on more fruits and vegetables both at home and at school since they begin to value the food more.

Other schools around the country are also taking part in the trend, which has been going on for years but proving especially prolific lately. "Edible Schoolyard," a 15-year old school garden program at Martin Luther King Middle School in Berkeley, Calif., proved so successful that it has been duplicated in six locations around the country in the past few years, and has a textbook modeled around it.

New York City's "Garden in the Cafe" program, in which food that elementary and middle school children grow in the garden is served in the cafeteria, is currently in 20 schools and expanding to 50 next year.  P.S. 107 in Brooklyn grows carrots and tomatoes for its lunches with $10,000 of grant money a year from the "New York Agriculture in the Classroom" program at Cornell University.  The program’s coordinator, Heather Davis, says that since 2008, the number of applications have doubled every year

Davis has heard positive reactions not just from the students, but the parents -- even from households where there is not much awareness of healthy eating.

"When kids come home enthused, that pushes parents to be more excited," said Davis.

When children are introduced to healthy foods at a younger age, it has a tangible effect on their behavior, said Pamela Koch, the Executive Director for the Center for Food and Environment at Columbia University.

"Ask anyone who has ever grown vegetables with children and they will tell you that kids will eat what they grow," said Koch, pointing out that research shows that children who grow gardens in school eat more vegetables than students who only received nutrition education.

Two years ago, the national Agriculture in the Classroom Program started a K-8 program, providing upwards of $50,000 to individual schools, according to Greg Smith, the national program leader.

Still, some of the programs, such as Romney's and MLK's, have been stretched thin for funding. Romney has received $6,000 of donations and "100 yards of the most beautiful topsoil you've ever seen," she said, but does not know what she will do when the funding runs out.

Even though the program at MLK Middle School has steadily continued for many years, "it's a constant battle to keep the program going," said program coordinator Shaina Robbins, pointing out it's especially difficult since they're not endowed and must rely on the support of local nonprofits.

Schools around the country can also apply for federal USDA funds for the school gardens through a "School Community Garden Pilot Program," according to Hans Billinger, the agency’s Food and Nutrition Service spokesperson. He expects the funds to increase if Congress passes the Child Nutrition Act, which would provide $10 billion over 10 years to improve the quality of national school breakfast and lunch programs. Some of that funding would be available for school garden creation.

"The program empowers students with the knowledge and experience of growing their own food," he said.

--Texas A&M University publishes a step-by-step guide for starting and maintaining a school garden.

--The National Gardening Association sponsors a Youth Garden Grants Program, handing out 100 grants every year.

--Lowe's funds annual school grants for any sort of hands-on education,

--Send inquiries to local gardening, horticulture and environmental education programs. Often these organizations have grant money available that is not readily advertised. When applying, it is helpful to include a catchy PowerPoint presentation to accompany requests. These should lay out the aims and goals of the proposed program.

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Photos by upturnedface and samuel mann

  Published June 14, 2010