(HOST) Several Vermont schools are involved in a program that teaches about farms and food by getting the students involved in planting and growing. Recently, commentator Tom Slayton visited one of them – in Hardwick.
(SLAYTON) At Hardwick Elementary School, lunchtime isn’t a break from education – in fact, it’s part of the curriculum.
Fall is harvest time. And this fall, second graders from Hardwick harvested beets and squash that had been planted last spring – and then helped wash, peel and prepare the vegetables they had brought in. Consequently, even though beets are not normally a big favorite among eight-year-olds, nearly every youngster took some when the beets showed up on the cafeteria serving line.
Suzanne Bader, who teaches second grade at Hardwick, helped the youngsters plant the beets and squash last spring, and harvested with them this fall, at the cooperating local farm where the beets were grown.
Most kids in her class, she said, have almost no idea where their food really comes from. Even rural youngsters generally see food as something that comes wrapped in plastic at the supermarket. So the gardening experience, plus the chance to spend some time on a real working farm, was incredibly valuable.
It’s all part of Vermont FEED, a statewide program that Hardwick and several other schools around Vermont are participating in. Its aim is to reconnect Vermont youngsters with local farmers and food producers, and thereby promote healthier school lunches – and healthier eating habits generally.
The program is co-sponsored by Food Works, The Northeast Organic Farmers’ Association, and Shelburne Farms. It is open to any school, at any level of involvement.
Vermont FEED stands for "Food Education Every Day," and it’s unique because it offers schools like Hardwick the opportunity for complete immersion in local food education.
At Hardwick Elementary, every classroom helps Food Service Manager Val Simmons in some way. Ms. Simmons and several of the school’s teachers found out about the Vermont FEED program about five years ago and decided it was a perfect fit for their school’s curriculum. Now, along with math, English, and geography, Hardwick Elementary School students learn about farmers, food production – and good nutrition.
According to Ms. Simmons, if they help prepare it, the youngsters will eat almost anything. Last fall, schoolchildren went to a local farm and harvested – by actual count – 910 ears of corn. They had corn-on-the-cob for lunch that day, and then helped prepare and freeze the rest of the corn – which lasted through December.
While other schools have adopted some aspects of the FEED program, Hardwick Elementary is one of about a dozen in Vermont that have embraced it totally. The aim is that, as they help grow – and eat – more local vegetables and other foods, the young students will come to understand more about where their food comes from, what farmers do, and why nutrition and locally produced foods are important.
It’s just another example of creative thinking about two important subjects: keeping Vermont kids healthy, and keeping Vermont itself rural and farming: education – with a Vermont flavor!