Nine-year-old Jennifer Perez had experience planting flowers but not food. After a trip Thursday to the 78th Street Heritage Farm, though, the Washington Elementary fourth-grader can say she’s done both.
Jennifer and about 70 of her classmates spent a rainy morning at the Hazel Dell farm learning about the food system, composting, animals and growing food. They not only learned about how potatoes grow, they tried their hand at farming. The students planted seed potatoes in animal feed bags that will stay at the farm for the growing season.
“I thought it was good because we got to learn about the potatoes and how they grow,” Jennifer said. “I know now that the root grows from the eye, and the root starts growing in a week.”
After the potatoes sprout, more soil will be added to the feed bags to keep the growing potatoes covered. This fall, the students will return as to the farm to harvest their bounty. And, if all goes according to plan, the kids will be able to take the potatoes back to their school, where they’ll be distributed to families in need through the school’s food pantry, said Sandra Brown, food safety and nutrition faculty at Washington State University Clark County Extension. Brown also hopes to be able to serve the students a dish made with potatoes, such as a chowder, to give the kids a complete picture of the food system.
“I think it’s been a good connection for the kids,” she said. “That’s the really valuable part for them, to really see how the food grows.”
For Jennifer, that meant learning where potatoes actually grow.
“I thought they grew in bushes before,” she said.
Nine-year-old Jordan Tep knew that potatoes grew in the ground; he helped his grandma plant potatoes before. But he still learned something during the field trip to the farm.
“I didn’t know that the roots grew above it,” he said.
The Washington Elementary School students were among about 900 kids from the Vancouver and Evergreen school districts who have come through the farm this spring for Farm to Fork tours to learn about how food grows and the systems around producing food.
The visit marks the end of a yearlong program for the students at Washington Elementary. This year, the extension partnered with Clark County Public Health and Vancouver Public Schools for a Farm to School program made possible by a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The farm visits were just one component of the Farm to School program.
Throughout the school year, one Friday each month was transformed into Farm Fresh Friday. During Farm Fresh Friday, a different fruit or vegetable was highlighted with samples and education about the food of the month.
The educational component of the program also included the district’s nutrition services staff. Last summer, they visited an Oregon farm to learn how the food there is grown and produced. This summer, the staff will visit Bob’s Red Mill in Milwaukie, Ore. for a similar experience.
For another piece of the program, Melissa Martin, a community health specialist at Clark County Public Health, reviewed the school district’s food purchasing and determined how much of their food supply comes from regional growers and producers. About 12 percent of the district’s produce and 37 percent of all other food items are regionally sourced. The goal, Martin said, is to work with the district to increase the amount of regionally sourced food that’s purchased and served in the schools. Martin will re-evaluate those purchasing habits this winter to see what gains have been made.
“I think the program has really increased the amount of local and regional foods,” she said. “It’s been a great year.”
