On Friday, we were picking up produce to bring over to the Urban Fresh farmer’s market cold storage and I finally had the chance to see the Food Literacy Project, which shares space at the working Field Day Family Farm in Louisville. I burst juicy grape tomatoes between my teeth while I wandered between the rows of flowers, herbs and vegetables and heard how things were going.
Carol Gundersen, in the photo with the red t-shirt, is the leader of the program whose purpose is to increase agricultural awareness here in Louisville and to help people understand their role and responsibilities in the food system. They do this through farm-based educational programs for school and community groups, as well as for teachers. They even manage to meet those curriculum objectives required of schools in many subjects. Read more about the 3-year-old program.
These types of programs are sprouting up around the country. There may be one in your area. One place to start might be by viewing the list of 2007 Youth Garden Grant winners from the National Gardening Association. Or, if you have one, ask the farmers at your farmers market if they know of such programs.