Nov 12th, 2013

What's Farm to Schools Week All About?

by Jonah Holland

by Heather Veneziano, Children’s Garden Horticulturist, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden

teaching about growing carrots

All over the Commonwealth, schools are celebrating Farm to School Week (November 11th -15th). The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) designated this week to encourage schools from kindergarten through college to use Virginia Grown foods in their cafeterias.  Local Food Hub, a Charlottesville-based non-profit is also a great resource to find out what local foods your school will be serving and to see a schedule of in-school events.
Here at the Garden we believe that every child should have access to fresh local food. Our Community Kitchen Garden helps supply fresh local food to FeedMore’s Kid’s Café and Meals on Wheels.
The Children’s Garden also does our part to show children the diversity of fruits and vegetables that can grow here in Central Virginia. Through our Discovery and Young Buds programs, groups get to taste and smell different vegetables, fruits and herbs!  Plus, they get to harvest or plant them themselves.

Children eating sugar snap peas in the Community Kitchen Garden

A child eating sugar snap peas in the Community Kitchen Garden

 

About Jonah Holland

Jonah Holland is Digital Content Manager at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, where she has worked for 14 years overseeing social media, the blog, and the website. She is also a mom, yogi, open water swimmer, gardener, and seeker. She's been known to go for a walk in the Garden and come back with hundreds of plant photos, completely inspired to write her next blog post.

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