FRESH START GARDEN*
Every week this summer preschoolers, their adult guardians, and older youth mentors will come together for a hands-on gardening and cooking program. Whether making mud-pies to learn about soil or creating edible pizza-pies in the kitchen, participants have a fun, hands-on oppotunity to share knowledge and learn.
Garden Goals:
- To create an intergenerational, experiential learning opportunity - combining ecology, horticulture, nutrition and culinary curricula in a hands-on program that is replicable in multiple community settings
- To expose young children to environmental learning through organically growing food, composting, harvesting rainwater, healthy cooking and working in groups
- Share cultural knowledge among preschoolers, older youth, and community members
Description:
This program is unlike any other and can drastically impact environmental education by providing a template for a successful, environmental and hands-on learning experience for preschoolers, older youth, and adults alike.
The program will begin with successively planting a vegetable garden, and continue with harvesting and cooking the foods grown in the garden each week. The curriculum will be based on plant biology, ecology, horticulture, entomology, nutrition, food history, and culinary technique. This will encourage healthier behaviors at home as well as contributing to a healthier, wealthier, and more sustainable community.
The preschooler's guardian will be involved in both the learning and teaching process, while the older youth mentor who is paired with each family will also support the young child.
The program is Mondays, from 5pm-7:30pm at Zion Baptist Church's WE WIN Garden, 612 Elwood Ave. N. We spend 1 hour in the garden followed by 1 hour in the kitchen and dinner. It will begin June 10 and run through the end of September.
Partners:
This project is a collaborative effort:
- Appetite For Change uses food as a tool for health, wealth, and social change in the community of North Minneapolis.
- The Urban Youth Garden Program at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum provides communities, local and national, with resources for horticulutral and environmental research and public education
- WE WIN Institute strives to strengthen the community through the social and academic success of all children
- La Crѐche Early Childhood Learning Center, Inc. gives young children the social, emotional, developmental and intellectual skills necessary to succeed in life and supports parents with tools to guide and raise their children
- University of Minnesota Center for Early Education and Development will work together in a Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) format with N. Mpls youth to demonstrate the program’s benefit to the participants
*If you are interested in sponsoring our garden please contact Appetite For Change at michelle@afcmn.org