October is Farm to School Month
October is Farm to School Month, and schools and early care centers across Georgia are celebrating all things kale. “Kickin’ it with Kale” is a statewide effort coordinated by Georgia Organics to help kids across Georgia get to know kale by growing, eating, and learning about it.
“Farm to school” is a national movement to connect children from early care to higher education to healthy, local food in the cafeteria and classroom through educational opportunities such as school gardens, classroom food activities, and farm field trips.
A broad array of activities encompass farm to school, like planting seeds, using garden-based learning for curriculum lessons, visiting a local farm, and taste testing local food in the cafeteria. These activities have been shown to not only increase student’s acceptance and preference for fruits and vegetables, but also to increase academic achievement and improve student behavior.
To participate at your school, early care center, or in your community, sign up for an online toolkit. Participants will receive free electronic resources to help you plan and implement your activities. Resources include standards-based lesson plans, quick activities, recipes, videos, school garden planting and harvesting information, and more.
Share your “Kickin’ it with Kale” pictures and activities on social media with #KickinitwithKale. Each week during October, anyone who uses this hashtag will be entered to win a gift card and at the end of the month, we will have a grand prize winner of a two day education pass to the Georgia Organics Conference on Thursday-Friday, Feb. 8-9, 2019, in Tifton—a $400 value.
For more information on farm to school in Georgia, visit www.georgiaorganics.org/for-schools/octoberfarmtoschoolmonth or email abbie@georgiaorganics.org.