Grassroots Gardens is at it again. This time the organization has found a way to support healthy eating measure in the Buffalo Public School System. For far too long our kids have been eating the wrong kinds of food at school, mostly due to the easy accessibility of cheap, non-wholesome items that might taste good, but when it comes to curbing obesity and health related issues they only compound the problems.
Instead of sitting by idly, Grassroots Gardens had launched a program that offers assistance to any public school that is interested in creating food-producing and habitat gardens (such as the Pelion Community Garden* at City Honors School – see here). The program offers technical and educational assistance to the public schools (Charters included), whereby the district, staff, students and even parents are able to formulate their own short term and long term plans to create sustainable gardens that will offer a multitude of benefits.
The unique Buffalo Sprouts School Gardens program also offers material support thanks to a grant from the Community Foundation. The plan is to immerse the students into a healthy lifestyle choice that they will take along with them for the rest of their lives. “School gardens are powerful tools.” said Melissa Fratello, Executive Director of Grassroots Gardens of Buffalo. “As outdoor classrooms, they allow our youth to connect with the environment firsthand as citizen scientists, to understand and participate in their local food system through the production of vegetables and herbs, and to create habitats for pollinators and birds. They also empower students to transform blighted spaces into beautiful, active places, and act as a vehicle to connect our diverse student population across cultures.”
In order to accomplish the goal, Grassroots Gardens will be working with Buffalo Public Schools’ School Garden Committee. To start, an streamlined application will be drawn up, and a process will be drafted. From there, additional school gardens will be implemented (3-6 new gardens to its current school garden network by September 2015), and existing school gardens will add crops that grow produce, fresh fruits and vegetables. Another aspect of the program is the Seedling Stewards initiative that keeps students busy during the off season by planting and tending to seedlings that will then be planted in the gardens throughout the city.
*There are currently six school gardens supported by Grassroots Gardens, including Lafayette High School, Pelion Garden at City Honors, School 18, School 30, School 32 and Burgard High School.
Photo: Grassroots Gardens