In a garden, food arises from partnership. If I don’t pick rocks and pull weeds, I’m not fulfilling my end of the bargain…But I can no more create a tomato or embroider a trellis in beans than I can turn lead into gold. That is the plants’ responsibility and their gift.
– Robin Wall Kimmerer, botanist and author

For NAEYC’s Week of the Young Child’s Tasty Tuesday, we share this excerpt from “Fostering Positive Relationships With Food in Early Childhood,” by Iris Chin Ponte, Claire Kamenski and Heather DiGiovanni, about their farm-to-table experience:

”To help children understand where food resources come from, we are lucky enough to tend to a small plot at a local farm. Our entire community goes to the farm every other week to take care of our farm tasks and interact with the farmers. Through guided question and answer sessions with the farmers, children have conversations about growing conditions, composting, animal care, farm tool use, and how long it takes different plants to grow. Regarding real farm tasks, we begin by planting seeds in the greenhouse in the early spring. The children also learn to de-stone and weed, plant rows of vegetables and flowers, and care for their crop. Interactions with farmers and tending to real plants help children better understand and observe how food is grown.

”Our visits to the farm consist of an arrival meeting on a big blanket. We discuss the tasks we need to accomplish that day at the farm, and sometimes teachers will break the students up into two small groups to complete the farm work. Teachers work with children, and the farmers come to check and see how things are going. Once our tasks are complete, there is time to explore the farm. Children have opportunities to observe animals, watch sheep shearing, run through tall grasses, observe the compost pile, pick berries, and weave or press wildflowers.

”In the summer once our farm plot is ready, our entire school community participates in a harvest party. At the harvest party, children and families work together to pick our vegetables and flowers. Families report that children are more willing try the vegetables and fruits that they have grown themselves.”

#woyc24 #tastytuesday