My students need two hot plates, a portable knife set and associated kitchen tools in order to enjoy the food we grow!
Our high school farm and garden program is a dynamic learning environment where students experiment growing their own vegetables, fruit and flowers in both an outdoor and greenhouse setting.
We are located between rich agricultural lands, yet live in a food desert and our class exemplifies this perfectly.
We are able to grow food in our beautiful 0.25 acre farm and garden space but do not have the facilities to prepare the food we grow. This creates a problem for us, as my students are not familiar with how to prepare fresh fruits and vegetables. I believe that by incorporating cooking into my agricultural production class, I will be able to instill life long lessons about health and nutrition.
My students will be able to prepare and cook the fresh fruits and vegetables that we grow. The materials (two hot plates, a portable knife set and associated kitchen tools) requested will create a partial mobile kitchen that we will be able to take into the garden. I have a small amount of funding to purchase the rest of the supplies. Having a kitchen will facilitate hands-on learning of nutrition and health that will last long into their future. They will learn how to search for recipes, prepare and cook with fresh ingredients as well as understand why this is important.
A mobile kitchen unit would significantly increase the chances that my students incorporate fresh fruit and vegetables into their daily lives.
Currently, most of my students have still never tried a lot of the greens that we grow in the classroom. A big barrier is that they do not know how to prepare them. I do my best by preparing things at home and bringing it to the class for them to eat, however, having them involved in the preparation will make all the difference in a lasting change.