With the number of families experiencing food insecurity on the rise, gardening is in the spotlight as a way to provide affordable, nutritious food. Growing fresh food not only provides ready access to fruits and vegetables, but studies show it actually motivates kids to eat them, too -- what a winning combination!

Recognizing the impact gardening can have on children’s health, Gardener’s Supply Company joins National Gardening Association each year to offer the Healthy Sprouts Award, which fosters youth food gardens. Since, this award program has provided gardening supplies to youth gardens focused on teaching nutrition education and creating awareness about hunger in local communities. It is a privilege to support such vital efforts. Read on to learn about some of our 2008 Healthy Sprout Winners:

Community Church without Walls
Birmingham, Alabama
Community Church without Walls reaches out to one of the most economically disadvantaged areas of Birmingham, Alabama. The garden program’s mission is to increase food security, facilitate the formation of community, and provide participants with educational opportunities and training in composting, gardening, cooking, and nutrition.

"Participants aren’t aware that malnutrition isn’t just about having enough food to eat, but also about not eating the right food,” explains Reverend Robert Lyons. “We use the garden to supplement the amount of food available and teach youth the importance of eating the right foods."

A highlight of the program is the monthly Food and Family Group Dinner, when 5 youth and 4 adults share a meal. “The youth are involved in the entire process of the meal, from planting and tending the garden to harvesting, preparing, cooking, and eating the produce.” This experience demonstrates a practical and fun way to teach nutrition education.

Community Food Initiatives
Athens, Ohio
Community Food Initiatives established a children's garden at Hope Drive Apartments, a public housing complex, to increase the food security of the residents. From May through November, resident children meet three times a week to design, plant, and tend an organic vegetable garden, and then harvest and prepare their produce for healthy meals at home and to sell at the local farmers market.

Liz Shaw, the community garden’s manager, hopes for short- and long-term benefits for the children. "Our goals are to teach organic gardening to low-income children through an interdisciplinary approach, increase food security of participants and families, create economic opportunities, promote good health through physical activity and consumption of fresh produce, and provide a safe and inviting space to play. If the kids have fun and we are able to provide great memories of gardening and healthy eating, then we hope it will stay with them their whole lives."

The interdisciplinary program curriculum was written with food security issues of low-income children in mind and addresses a broad range of age and skill levels among participants. All participants engage in weekly cooking classes, where they prepare a lunch from food they’ve grown or that was donated by another community garden.

The garden also includes a special plot for vegetables that participants sell at a local farmer’s market. The proceeds from these sales are divided among the dedicated gardeners. Liz comments, “I have many more youth interested in participating in the program this year because last year’s participants earned their own money, and word got around!” Any surplus produce is sent home for families to enjoy.

Redlands High School
Redlands, California
Twice a month special education students at Redlands High School operate a classroom restaurant using the fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers they’ve harvested from their garden. “They help to prepare and then serve a noontime meal for a limited number of school employees and other invited community guests,” explains teacher Daniel Brown. “Additionally, they prepare fresh floral arrangements, set the table, greet the guests, and wash the dishes and table linens."

Beyond nutrition, students learn how to incorporate teamwork, follow directions, get along with other individuals, and work with mainstream students. “The program also facilities our students' vocational and life skills as well as social skills," adds Daniel.

The students donate extra produce to local nonprofits for homeless members of the community, enjoy it for snacks, or sell it to high school staff to raise funds for the program.

Winooski Department of Recreation and Community Wellness
Winooski, Vermont
“Winooski is a federal refugee resettlement community composed of more than 23 ethnicities, many from war-torn countries,” explains Community Farm and Garden Director Nina Ridhibhinyo. "Through our garden program, we hope to give youth the skills to combat hunger in their own lives and in their communities. By understanding that hunger and its more prevalent form, malnutrition, stem from a lack of access to quality foods rather than a shortage of supply, youth become empowered to identify and overcome economic and other barriers to leading healthy, productive lives."

The Community Farm and Garden Program is a program of the Winooski Department of Recreation and Community Wellness overseen by the Community Farm and Garden Director. Programming includes a summer enrichment program for K-8 children called Thrive, which offers daily gardening activities for participating youth.

The facilities include a 4,500 square-foot gardening space, a 200 square-foot greenhouse, garden shed, compost bins, and an outdoor kitchen. Youth help to plant, water, weed, harvest, cook, and consume the food they grow. The produce is sold at a Farmer's Market, donated to local food banks and a senior program, and eaten in the youths’ lunches, a nutrition class, and at a monthly community potluck dinner.

Great quotes from some of the youth gardeners include:

"People don't grow food; they just plant it. Bees, water, sunshine, and fairies grow food and make all the beauty of the garden." - 5 year old gardener

"I liked the feeling of helping others out. I think we should donate even more!" - 14 year old gardener

For more details about the Healthy Sprouts Award and to download the current application please visit: www.kidsgardening.org/healthysprouts.asp.