From the garden to the classroom: Program works to change how children learn and eat

AUSTIN (KXAN)-- The U.S. Department of Agriculture is encouraging schools across the nation to promote health and wellness through school farm programs.

Farm to School programs work to change the way children learn, eat and grow food inside of the classroom.

National Farm to School Month

The US Department of Agriculture declared October as, National Farm to School Month. The TDA invites all Texas schools to join in on NFS month by encouraging them to incorporate locally sourced and grown produce into their student's lunch meals.

“On an average day about 30 million kids eat school meals. We are seeing more and more schools across the country using fresh local food. We are also seeing more schools adapt to what we call Farm to School practices," Cindy Long Deputy under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Service at USDA said.

The USDA considers 'Farm to School Practices' as school gardens, food education and relationships with local producers in the community.

“School meals have a lot of fruit and vegetables on the plates every day and that is certainly an area where having something that is tasty and local and seasonal can be really appealing", said Long.

One school district in Central Texas already incorporating FTS practices amongst all grade levels is IDEA Public Schools. IDEA has been working hard to achieve its goal of being the healthiest school district in the nation.

IDEA's Child Nutrition Programs campus farms allow students to grow fresh produce while building healthy habits. Since 2017, IDEA has grown 120,000 pounds of produce that has been used to create over half a million meals for students, according to IDEA Rundberg Campus Farmer Carlos Jimenez.

"Some of the kids start off thinking tomatoes come from the grocery store. Having them see exactly how they grow where they come from, really excites them," said Jimenez.

IDEA has a total of 12 campus farms across Texas and one in Louisiana according to Jimenez. He said each farm works towards the same goal, they have also pushed students to try foods they would normally not choose to eat.

“We focus on having some kids certified at the end of the year. So right now, for example, we're working with sixth-grade kids, and we're certifying them in a junior master garden program," said Jimenez.

In 2023, 112 IDEA third-grade students were certified, and in 2024, IDEA is planning to have 130 fifth-grade students certified in the program.

How to get your school certified?

The USDA is offering an active grant targeted and supporting the increase of the use of school gardens in the classroom. "We hope to support and help develop programs for students to use the produce from the garden to create healthy food items that can be then utilized in the school meals," said Long.

The grant program can award a total of up to $100,000. To learn more about the grants requirements or ways to implement these Farm to Table practices within a school visit the USDA Grants program web page.