FFA Students, Land O’Lakes Spearhead Community Hunger Effort
August 28, 2014
The Land O’Lakes Foundation and the Roland-Story FFA chapter are
partnering to address food insecurity in Story City through community
gardening. For FFA students, the partnership provides an excellent
opportunity for service learning and to engage with more members of their
community.
Under the guidance of Advisor Brad Taylor, twenty-two FFA students
manage 1.5 acres of sweet corn and 4,000 square feet of potatoes,
peppers, tomatoes, onions, kale, beans and peas. So far this year, over
1500 pounds of fresh produce were donated to Loaves and Fishes, the
local food pantry.
The garden would not have been possible without the support of many
corporate and community partners. The Land O’Lakes Foundation
provided $1,200 and a “tool-kit” of gardening information to help the FFA
chapter launch the garden. The local Land O’Lakes WinField Answer Plot
donated the land for the garden, and WinField employees are available to
provide technical support when needed.
Additional partners include:
Key Co-Op, which provides fertilizers and chemicals if needed;
Story City, which delivers water to the garden with their tanker truck;
The Story City Herald, a local newspaper that p