Incorporating Lessons in Sustainable Agriculture from Farm Field Trips into K-8 School Gardens in Low-Income Neighborhoods

View the project final report

Commodities

Practices

• Education and Training: youth education

Children 1^st has long-standing partnerships with several farms in the Wichita area.  Starting in the Spring 2024 semester, our K-8 students will visit these farms on field trips, interview the farmers, and learn sustainable farming techniques they can replicate in their school gardens.  The students will also organize a science fair to present the lessons they’ve learned to the public, and lead tours of their school garden.  Planned activities will focus on pollinators and beneficial insects, permaculture, sustainable energy, vermiculture, value-added products, and agribusiness careers.

What We Taught Youth

Students are taught, through the school gardens and through garden field trips, about sustainable growing practices including crop rotation, pollination, beneficial insects, cover crops, and drip irrigation. Students also learned about value-added food production by creating recipes from the gardens.

Educational Approach

Children 1st provided education about sustainable agriculture to 570 students in K-8th grade, including 1) field trips, 2) lessons, 3) education about agriculture careers, 4) science fairs, and 5) lessons using food from the garden.

Conclusions

Through the use of guest speakers, food and farm field trips, weekly garden lessons, after school garden times, science fairs focusing on growth and production of various seeds in classrooms, and a multitude of recipes, students and families have learned more about where food comes from, how it is grown, how to use it, and how to cook it in a variety of ways. This program provides a holistic take on how gardens and farms play major roles in our food system, especially for the students that we serve.

Youth/Educator/Parent Adoption

As educators, we grew to adopt more sustainable farming practices in our school gardens as we learned more with students. We also were able to connect with local farmers who also use these practices and support each other through shared seeds, knowledge, and resources. Parents informed us that students are trying and eating more fruits and vegetables at home after growing them at the school. There was also a 40% increase in the last two years of students that have home gardens as compared to the numbers at the beginning. Youth have shown an increased interest in gardening through the excitement they have about going to the garden each week, enthusiasm over learning about and visiting new farms, and willingness to try new foods.

• 100 low-income students from four K-8 Wichita schools will visit three or more local farms to learn sustainable farming practices.
• Four schools hosting C1^st Education Gardens will incorporate lessons learned (e.g. permaculture, pollinators, vermiculture) from field trips.
• One or more guest speakers will come to each C1^st school with an Education Garden and talk about sustainable agriculture and careers in agribusiness.
• Two science fairs at All Saints School.
• Ten or more nutritious recipes (e.g. salsa, smoothies, pizza) developed by students using produce from the Education Gardens to introduce the concept of Value-Added agribusiness.