FOOD COLUMN
BY MAREE GAETANI
Vermont City Redefines Garden-Based Learning and Local Food
What do local food and school gardening mean to Vermont ’ s largest school district ?
The Burlington School Food Project is a food service and Farm to School program that connects students and their families with whole , fresh and local foods , school gardens and is an integral department of Vermont ’ s Burlington School District .
The program defines a product as local when it is grown or processed within the state of Vermont or at one of their many schoolbased gardens . The majority of their vegetable purchases are ultra-local , which is defined as a 30-mile radius . The Burlington school system is so committed to local food and garden-based learning that it has hired Sarah Heusner as food education manager , and Christine Gall as garden education coordinator .
Christine currently divides her time between the Burlington School Food Project and KidsGardening , a national nonprofit based in Burlington , dedicated to creating opportunities for every child to learn through the garden . After earning a B . A . in history at Haverford College , Christine dove headfirst into the world of garden and food-based learning . She spent time working for a variety of educational farms in both New York and Vermont , including Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture , the Merck Forest and Farmland Center and Shelburne Farms , before transitioning to educating within a school setting and as a Food Corp member .
DIRTY HANDS It ’ s arguably the first hot day of May , the growing season in Burlington , with temperatures soaring into the low 90s and bright sunlight shining down on a group of 40 or so sixth graders collected on a quarter-acre plot of land nestled behind Lyman C . Hunt Middle School . Perched on picnic tables , the students
The Fork in the Road is integrated into academic classes , such as business and culinary arts at Burlington High School , and students receive mentoring from the local restaurant community .
listen as Christine explains what their class will be doing in the school district ’ s largest production garden . Within moments , the youth spring to action . Armed with shovels and rakes , they turn over long rows of cover crop , revealing dark soil and the occasional earthworm .
Over the course of the day , more than 200 students pitch together to transform the dormant , weed-ridden space into a fully tilled and compost-rich garden ready for planting . That task will be completed by a group of visiting Burlington High School students participating in a two-week , year-end studies course called Burlington Farming : Growing the Future .
Across the district , every school is similarly readying their garden for the growing season . Many of these schools have Outdoor or Garden Committees of invested teachers and parents dedicated to organizing garden celebrations and planning summer maintenance schedules .
FOOD FIGHTERS From kindergarten classes to a specialized food science course offered at the high school ,
PHOTO COURTESY KIDS GARDENING . ORG
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