AFTER THE HARVEST — NRHEG eighth-grade students and ag instructor Dan Sorum, third from left, pose for a photo after a harvest in the school garden. (Submited photo)
September was declared Farm to School month in Minnesota, and NRHEG was in on the fun.
This past spring, at the request of school nurse Gratia Johnson, the ag education department decided to take on the task of planning and implementing a school garden. Dan Sorum, NRHEG ag educator, led the project with the help of ag students in various classes.
"The most important workers were the summer volunteers," said Sorum. "Without them, this garden would have been more weeds and less food."
The idea of school gardens has been growing over the years as both a means to give students hands-on education and a way for schools to save a little on their food bill. In turn, it also generates money locally. Studies have shown that for every dollar a school spends locally, three dollars are generated in the local economy. Of course, one of the biggest and most obvious benefits is on the salad bar, where this year students thus far have enjoyed garden fresh cucumbers and tomatoes.
"We started simple," said Sorum. "We just planted tomatoes, cucumbers, and some pumpkins for the elementary. We planted some radishes for a fall crop as well." The idea will be to eventually turn the 1/3-acre site into a more diverse setting, but first the program had to see what challenges if any existed on the site.
Funding for the program was primarily through a Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP) grant, with some funding by the local FFA chapter. However, the SHIP program is scheduled to expire this year due to budget cuts so it is yet unknown how the garden will be funded next year. Regardless of where the funding comes from, the overall benefit will remain: to provide healthy fresh food to school kids and to do so in a manner that is both educational and beneficial to the community.
"I hope that we can even expand the site one day and get a site in Ellendale for the elementary," said Sorum. "That would be a great measure of success in this program."
If you would like to know more about the Farm to School Initiative, go to FarmToSchool.org for more information or contact your local school and ask how you can help.
