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2005 Healthy Sprouts Awards

In many U.S. schools, statistics show that you’ll find children who are overweight and others wondering where their next meal will come from; many are not getting the right balance of nutrients in their diets or enough exercise. Research conducted at Texas A&M University supports the connection between kids’ food gardens and improved nutrition. Could a school garden be part of the solution to the diet- and exercise-related challenges children face? Many forward-thinking educators and parents think so, and have worked to create youth garden programs that focus on nutrition and hunger issues.

As a way to encourage the growth of health-focused youth gardens, the National Gardening Association recognizes outstanding programs annually via the Healthy Sprouts Awards sponsored by Gardener’s Supply Company. This award program supports schools and community organizations that use the garden to teach about nutrition and explore issues of hunger in the United States. This year, thanks to the generosity of Gardener’s Supply Company, 40 schools received recognition for their youth garden efforts. Each of the top 5 programs received $500 cash and a $200 gift certificate to the Gardener’s Supply Company catalog; the other 35 received $100 gift certificates.

For a full list of the 2005 Healthy Sprouts Award recipients, visit here.

The number of exemplary applications was impressive and the selection process was challenging. The 2005 award recipients represent a diversity of programs and audiences but they all share the following characteristics:

Below is a summary of the top five program applications. We’ve also compiled a list of nutrition and hunger education curriculum and activity ideas used by the 40 Healthy Sprouts Award recipients. The programs combined the use of established curriculum and development of original lessons and activities to teach about nutrition and hunger. Maybe one of these ideas is a perfect fit for your youth garden!

Top Five Healthy Sprout Award Recipients

Asa Mercer Middle School, Seattle, Washington
During their middle school years, students are more independent with their food choices and are often surrounded by unhealthy options. The garden program at Asa Mercer Middle School was designed to guide students to make positive health choices and increase their involvement in community food projects. The 270 youth focus on nutrition and exercise habits in health class, and are required to maintain detailed food journals that they later analyze to determine nutrient value and caloric content. During their social studies classes they complete a unit on homelessness and hunger. The garden provides a hands-on component to these lessons, as students complete community service by donating produce from their garden, organizing school-wide food drives, and volunteering their time at a local food bank.

Yeled V’Yalda Early Childhood Center, Inc., Brooklyn, New York
Habits are adopted at a young age and that knowledge motivates the Yeled V’Yalda Early Childhood Center, Inc. to introduce nutrition education to their Head Start participants. They are establishing an Outdoor Nutrition Lab at one of their sites to serve to expose students to healthy foods, and to provide a source of fresh vegetables and physical activity.

The impetus for this project was an obesity study that found nearly 21 percent of the children (aged 2 to 5) enrolled at this site were already considered obese. Site leaders recognized the need for special hands-on programming and hit on the idea of a garden. The children and parents participated in planning from the outset. Leaders and parents hope that by growing and eating nourishing foods, kids and their families will learn to make healthful choices that will result in improved wellbeing.

The program will also donate produce to Project Hospitality, a local food pantry, and discuss hunger issues with the children. Since 100 percent of the children come from low-income households, they will be able to relate these issues to their own lives.

McHenry County Latino Coalition, Garden Quarter Neighborhood Resource Center, McHenry, Illinois
At the Garden Quarter Neighborhood Resource Center, kids in after school programs came up with the idea to create a community garden as a neighborhood beautification project. Soon after the focus shifted to growing fruits and vegetables so the center can expand their weekly Extension Service nutrition education and cooking classes.

The project also gives participating youth an opportunity to serve and grow pride in their community. The garden is located in the center of a low-income apartment complex and the harvest will be available to all residents. To further emphasize food security, the Northern Illinois Food Bank will provide education sessions for the center.

Dynamic Youth Mentoring Program, St. Johnsbury, Vermont
Located in a trailer park in rural Vermont, the Dynamic Youth Mentoring’s 4-H Growing Connection’s Garden was created to provide fresh vegetables to the children who participate in school lunch programs and their families. Using curriculum from the Vermont Extension Service, the youth learn about nutrition and healthy lifestyles and practice these new skills by consuming fresh fruits and vegetables from the garden and other sources. Each child also takes home a vegetable container garden, giving them the opportunity to share their knowledge and fresh vegetables with their family. The students discuss and investigate local and national food security issues and donate a portion of the harvest to the local food shelf.

Wynbrooke Traditional Theme School
More than 250 students participate in the “Seeds and Feeds Ecosystem” (SAFE) garden program at Wynbrooke Traditional Public Theme School in Stone Mountain, Georgia. School Council representative Joyce Larkin comments that “food gardening is a way to see and touch, smell and taste nutrition.” The school introduces a number of nutrition education lessons and activities including implementation of the Dole 5-a-Day program, but “we anticipate the biggest catalyst for students to make healthy food choices will be their enthusiasm about nurturing, harvesting, and eating their own garden plants. Nutritionally, a school garden project is a winner!”

In addition to utilizing their garden harvest in the school’s nutrition education programs, Wynbrooke students donate produce to the Atlanta Community Food Bank’s Plant-a-Row for the Hungry program. In the classroom, students complete the Food Bank’s Hunger 101 curriculum to increase their awareness of hunger and food security issues. Through their donations, the students reinforce the curriculum with real-life experience and learn ways “to participate in the improvement of the lives of their fellow citizens and the betterment of the communities in which they live.”

Nutrition and Hunger Resources for Educators

Nutrition Resources:
Captain 5-A-Day - An educational adventure box developed by the Connecticut Department of Public Health, in partnership with the Connecticut Department of Social Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Dole 5-A-Day - Dole offers a wide range of program ideas and free educational materials to teachers. Their Website provides creative tools for teachers and youth including fun fruit and veggie characters and songs. Their focus is on the 5-a-Day message encouraging youth and their parents to consume at least five servings of fruits and vegetables every day for better health.

Food is Elementary - A curriculum created by the Food Studies Institute integrating academic disciplines with food, nutrition, culture, and the arts.

Healthy Foods from Healthy Soils – A Hands-on Resource for Teachers - Students discover where food comes from, how our bodies use food, and what happens to food waste.

Junior Master Gardener – Health and Nutrition from the Garden - This curriculum from the Junior Master Gardener Program teaches children that growing and eating nutritious fruits and vegetables is rewarding and fun. This teacher/leader guide has six learning concepts, with activity pages for children and program information for leaders.

Hunger Resources:
Feeding Minds, Fighting Hunger - A Web site with classroom lessons exploring the problems of hunger, malnutrition, and food insecurity.

Resources for Learning - A collection of 55 Pre-K through 12th grade lesson plans developed by Project Food, Land & People for use in either a formal or non-formal education setting.

Heifer International Read to Feed Curriculum– Heifer International created a program designed to promote reading and raise funds to help fight hunger internationally. The program includes interdisciplinary hunger lesson and activity plans for use in the classroom.

Hunger 101 - Hunger 101 is an interactive education program of the Atlanta Community Food Bank that addresses the issues of hunger, food security, and poverty on the national, state, and local levels. Free PDF versions of curriculum, coloring books, and more.

Population Connection - Population Connection is a national grassroots population organization that provides information on population growth and its relationship to the use and availability of the Earth's resources.

Lesson and Activity Ideas

• Visit a local food bank or, if field trips are not feasible, ask a food bank representative to visit your school. Encourage or require older students to volunteer time at a local food bank. Lead students in organizing a school-wide food drive.
  
• Offer cooking classes to the students. Let them prepare a healthy snack or meal, and provide opportunities for them to taste various fresh fruits and vegetables. Include instruction on food preservation and food safety. Create a class recipe book. Encourage students to plan menus incorporating fruits and vegetables.
  
• Keep a food journal. Analyze the nutritional value of the foods consumed.
  
• Plant a container garden for youth to take home. This gives them the opportunity to share their new knowledge and harvest with family and friends.
  
• Host a harvest party or a family gardening festival for youth, parents and other garden supporters. Create nutrition displays and/or presentations for guests.
  
• Create a Fruit and Vegetable of the Week program. Teach students about the nutritional value, history and cultural background of the spotlighted produce. Allow students to taste it in class and/or give students samples to take home. Send information on nutrition, storage, and recipes to parents to reinforce the message at home.
  
• Plan a community educational event during National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. Information is available on the National Coalition for the Homeless Website.
  
• Sell harvest or products from harvest (such as salsa) at school or at an established farmer’s market. Use profits to support the garden and/or donate money to local food banks.
  
• Contact your local Cooperative Extension office to find out about available nutrition education programs and services.
  
• Incorporate books related to hunger and nutrition into classroom lessons such as The Greatest Table: A Banquet to Fight Against World Hunger by Michael Rosen (ages 4 to 8). The San Francisco Food Bank offers a reading list.
  
• Do you have more ideas to share? We’d love to hear about them! Please e-mail our editor with your suggestions.

June 2005
Kids Garden News

Contents

Newsletter Home

2005 Healthy Sprouts Awards

Spotlight Article:
Plant a Seed for Good Health
by Ildi Carlisle-Cummins

News Items

Lesson Feature:
"Eat a Rainbow"

Introduction

Background

Lesson 1:
Taste the Flavor Rainbow

Lesson 2:
The Traveling Journal

Plant of the Month: Tomato

Resources