Getting your whole school engaged in understanding where food comes from and how food grows can be really exciting and surprisingly rewarding. Establishing an intimate connection between you and your food lays the foundation for healthier eating and a healthier life. By understanding exactly how your food gets to you, you understand better how your food choices affect your health, the environment, and the community.

Farm-to-School

Farm-to-school is a growing national effort to connect school lunch programs directly to local farmers. According to the National Farm to School Program, there are almost 9,000 schools across the country making this vital connection. You can start down this exciting path by visiting the National Farm to School Program website (www.farmtoschool.org), where you'll find information about the program and its importance, success stories, how to connect with resources in your state, step-by-step guides for implementing a program, curricular resources, funding opportunities, and much more. Whether it's a simple salad bar or a seasonal supply of apples, little efforts go a long way to teach kids and adults alike about the vital connection between healthy farms, healthy communities, and healthy bodies.

School Gardens

School gardens are an amazing multidisciplinary, hands-on learning opportunity. In addition, they provide an unparalleled experience to empower children to grow their own food. You'll see the pride in your students' faces the first time they get to eat or share something fresh from the garden. You can also expect them to eat foods they may shun in the cafeteria because of the excitement of growing it themselves (and because it just tastes better)!

Once again, all you need to do is hop online and visit www.schoolgardenwizard.org. This site has everything from how to make the case to your school administrators to planning the garden. It also includes tips on how to garden, how to learn in the garden, and how to evaluate your success. Of course, the climate you live in will determine what you can feasibly grow during the school year. If you live somewhere with a short growing season, you may want to raise funds to build a small greenhouse for your garden. You can also focus on fast-growing crops like snap peas and leaf lettuce. Another idea is to have families adopt the garden over summer break, so the children have a bountiful harvest to enjoy when they come back in the fall. Put one family in charge each week, fewer if you have a lot of parents who'd like to participate.