Teaching our Future Farmers the Importance of Gardening

“I love it when we are growing snap peas and I am surrounded by a bunch of 3 and 4-year-olds and I ask them who wants a snap pea and they shout ME, ME, ME,” says Shelley Miller, who, along with Eric McAnis, serves as primary curriculum developer for The GROWN project, Growing Resilient Optimism With Nature.

A program sponsored by the nonprofit Butte County Local Food Network (BCLFN), GROWN is a program to strengthen the local food system through seed, cultivation, distribution, education and policy collaboration. GROWN partners with schools to create age-appropriate curricula, providing hands-on garden experiences for learners of all ages. It focuses on growing, harvesting, cooking, processing food and offers potential career path internships to older youth.

GROWN teacher Farmer Sam assists students to grow lush vegetable gardens in small school plots. Photo by Kate Hiller

Butte County School Children Learn Where Their Food Comes From

“All of the schools have a garden, they all get to participate in garden upkeep, learning about plants and their development and learning about nature, how humans affect their development and where they get their produce from; the ground not the grocery store!” says Shelley, who specializes in preschool and high school classes. “It amazes me that I have preschoolers that are wanting to try produce with me.”

At present, GROWN affects more than 1,700 students ranging from preschool to high school, partnering with area schools including Chico Achieve Charter School, Ridgeview High School, Chapman Elementary, McManus Elementary, Little Chico Creek Elementary, Mi Esquilita Maya, Little Sprouts, Circles and the Chico Child Development Center.

GROWN primary curriculum developers Shelley Miller loves teaching Butte County school students how to be resilient through growing their own delicious vegetables. Photos provided by BCLFN.

Gardening and Food Cultivation is Linked to Academic Skills

GROWN provides an opportunity for young people to find a sense of place in their community, instill confidence and offer training in leadership skills. Classes are held one to three times weekly, with groups of 20-175 students at 10 schools across eight age categories, and bilingual and multiple classes take place daily. The curriculum is developed for every grade using appropriate vocabulary and terms and sent weekly to school staff so they can prepare the students for the next lesson

At the start of every school year, elementary and high school students receive a questionnaire to help identify areas for improvement. Students who completed the curriculum the previous year demonstrate a 90% retention rate of the material. Desiree Norwood is currently helping develop the garden for students at Circle school. “It is really exciting to see the kids have that interest in the food production and the bugs and what’s going on outside and how these processes and concepts seem to really stick with them and really shows that they are interested and that it matters to them.”

Additional schools may be considered for inclusion in the future. To express interest, please contact GROWN via their website bclocalfood.org/grown. Schools that wish to participate will be provided with a questionnaire to evaluate their readiness, available resources and level of staff engagement.

Farmer Sam teaches children about the wonders of beet juice. At a recent
visit, Mi Escuelita Maya students drank beet juice, ate shredded and roasted beets and even colored with beet juice

Community Support is Crucial

BCLFN is mostly funded by grants. However, local funding with individual donations, sponsors and fundraisers such as their farm-to-table dinners is needed to keep the gardens and food supplies growing. Grow Chico has been a longtime sponsor that has donated thousands of plant starts not only for the school gardens but for all the kids to take home starts and seeds to teach their parents and really foster the future farmers of America.

Donna Garrison, Administrator, interim President, and Project Manager for the GROWN program, was a founder of BCLFN and maintains strong ties with community farmers.

“The mission has always been to diminish food insecurity and support farmers. If you support the farmers, you are supporting local communities. The money stays in the community and teaching children about growing to encourage our next generation of future farmers.”