Planting the Seed for Healthy Environments
Educating Young Children in a Changing Climate: Impacts on Programs and Practices
Supports for Farm to Early Care and Education
Planting the Seed for Healthy Environments
Meagan K. Shedd and Cynthia Greene
How can early learning programs offer children healthy food and help them learn about food, farming, and gardening? Farm to school programs have attempted to help K – 12 schools meet these goals for nearly 30 years, and over the past decade, farm to early care and education has done so in birth – 5 settings. Both aim to
› Increase access to nutritious, locally grown foods › Encourage gardening
› Facilitate learning about food, nutrition, and agriculture
Combined, these three components are known as the core elements of both movements( USDA SNAP-Ed Connection 2023).
These programs have many potential benefits, including how they can help children learn about environmental issues and climate change. To fully reap
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