On the QT | The Official Newsletter of GWA November-December 2017 | Page 11

NEW&
Noteworthy
October 2017 marked the one-year anniversary
of active marketing for GardenZeus, an innova-
tive, online resource for the California gardener.
Gardeners enter their zip codes and access cus-
tomized growing information for vegetables,
herbs and drought tolerant perennials as well as
a series of blogs focused on California’s unique
growing conditions. Ann Clary is co-founder of
the site and Christy Wilhelmi is an advisor.
• • •
Elzer-Peters
devotes new
website to
freelancers
Christine Gall is the garden education coordinator for Burlington School Food Project.
students have a chance to engage in a variety of
garden-based learning opportunities through-
out the year. Christine likes to emphasize to the
kids that “Any youth who participates in any sort
of garden maintenance project can be said to
have contributed to the school district’s own
food system.” Much of the produce from these
school gardens is used by cafeteria staff in meals
that are delicious and readily eaten by the kids.
There is also a Food Fighters afterschool pro-
gram, where Christine spends many hours of
their weekly meetings preparing meals at the
local food shelf.
IMPACT FOR KIDS AND COMMUNITY
Since 2005, the education experts at Kids-
Gardening have been tracking the impact of
youth gardening by interviewing their grant-
ees across the United States. Some highlights
of the positive changes noted in the youth
who participated in these garden programs:
• 70 percent of educators noted
improvements in nutritional attitudes
• 82 percent saw an increased sense of
community spirit
• 80 percent noted increased social skills
• 75 percent saw an increase in leadership
skills
• 91 percent saw improved environmental
attitudes
• • •
Celebrating 120 Years
NOVEMBER 2017 |
the new
south
to use Pinterest
as a sales tool
For more about the Burlington School
Food Project, please visit burlingtonschool-
foodproject.org; for more on the impact of
garden-based learning, visit KidsGardening.org
or read Christine’s blog.
Maree Gaetani is currently Partnership and Outreach at
KidsGardening, a national nonprofit that is dedicated to
getting kids learning through the garden. Prior to this
position, she was director of good works and garden
relations at Gardener’s Supply. She’s been actively
involved promoting gardening as an agent for social,
environmental and community change since 2001.
Member of GWA since 2001.
www.floristsreview.com
TRENDS
FIVE Ways
BY THE NUMBERS
Burlington School Food Project offers break-
fast and after school supper in the district’s nine
schools. Five schools also receive lunch at no
cost.
Katie Elzer-Peters has
launched Make Me A
Freelancer: How to Run Your Business Without
Ruining Your Life, a website and blog devoted
to making it easier for freelancers to have suc-
cessful, profitable businesses without sacrificing
quality of life. Katie shares tips and tools for
self-employed freelancers, including the free
guide “8 Ways to Ensure Quality Time Off,” some-
thing she has struggled with and conquered.
She started the site after experiencing many
stumbling blocks along the way to building her
10 year business and watching her friends and
colleagues struggle.
FORK IN THE ROAD FOOD TRUCK
The Fork in the Road food truck grew out
of Burlington School Food Project’s hands-on
gardening and cooking programs, and Christine
helps manage this program.
Student employees earn wages while
processing fresh ingredients from local farms
and the school gardens, preparing complex
dishes—everything from samosas to pesto
pulled pork sandwiches—working weekly vend-
ing and catering events as well as maintaining
school gardens throughout the district. Youth
also attend special team days, which include
food safety trainings, resume writing workshops,
mock interviews and visits to local businesses
where they learn the ins and outs of the service
industry.
The food truck is integrated into academic
classes s uch as business and culinary arts at
Burlington High School, and students receive
mentoring from the local restaurant community.
This amazing program not only teaches relevant
skills, teamwork and workplace professionalism,
it also increases confidence and changes lives.
A typical school year food costs are roughly
$1.1 million, with 11 percent direct to local pro-
ducers and growers. The local total exceeds 30
percent when fluid milk is included. Meal service
is offered 177 days during the calendar school
year, and an additional 39 days during summer
months. And local foods are served daily.
Southern
Style
Prinzing produces
Slow Flowers
insert
Former GWA President
Debra Prinzing has
joined Florists’ Review,
the leading floral industry trade magazine, as
contributing editor. Beginning with the August
issue, she’ll produce a regular, 16-page insert
for the monthly publication called Slow Flowers
Journal. Her website features related online
content and highlights from the print edition.
Fleuramour 2017
Europe’s grandest
floral design event
NOV 2017 - $6.50
floristsreview.com
02
• • •
Tova Roseman continues to interview people,
such as Diane Blazek, for her podcasts. She
says she learns something new every time.
While she can’t share an exact schedule at this
point in time, she encourages people to check
them out.
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