We are often asked what we do with food that we grow. The basic answer is kids come first.
As much as anything else, we simply turn to the students who are in the garden – during our Garden Club, for example – and ask, “Want to take something home?” We don’t bag up enough to put dinner on the table. But maybe we introduce a new vegetable to a student’s family or just an alternative to an old standby. We will have made a difference if a family that usually eats iceberg lettuce tries a loose leaf variety.
Kids come first in other ways. My extraordinary partners, Cremilda Dias and Carolyn Keefe, lead students in preparing salads and other dishes. We occasionally give food to the after-school Cooking Club at Myers. And we also sell produce in the summer for a couple of kid-centric purposes. Sales proceeds help support our initiatives. And we create hands-on learning opportunities for students who present our wares to prospective customers.
We have not, however, placed any food in the school cafeteria – yet!
– Bill Stoneman
