Students in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, are getting first-hand experience with growing, harvesting, and tasting fresh fruits and vegetables grown in the school gardens. The Murfreesboro City Schools (MCS) Farm2School program was first launched to expand and strengthen farm-to-school initiatives.
Six farmer-educators, as well as nutrition services, work with the school gardens and towers to produce fresh vegetables for school cafeterias.
“This is the coolest thing because they can come out, and they can touch it, they can feel it,” said Sandy Scheele, MCS Supervisor of Nutrition. “Then, when it’s served in the cafeteria, they’re like, ‘I helped plant that. I helped harvest that.’”
Efforts by the Farm to School Network enhance classroom education through hands-on learning, such as school gardens and other educational activities related to food, health, agriculture, and nutrition.
“We can do math lessons, ELA lessons,” says Principal Adam Bryson of John Pittard Elementary. “We’re plotting and charting the growth of the plants. We’re writing stories about the journey a seed takes. So, we’re not losing educational opportunities—we’re making better educational opportunities for our kids.”
October is National Farm to School Month, a campaign dedicated to connecting children and communities to nutritious local foods while supporting farmers, agriculture, and the economy.
