Nourishing a child’s mind is just as important as nourishing their body.
At Kids’ Food Basket, we honor every resource gifted to us by ensuring we are making the biggest impact in the lives of all children throughout West Michigan.
One way we are accomplishing this is by being chief hosts and welcoming classrooms onto our 10-acre sustainable farm at our headquarters in Grand Rapids.
We teach kids the importance of eating healthy and learning about where their food comes from.
A group of 25 third graders from Plymouth Christian Elementary school shared this experience on the KFB Farm for six weeks.
During the months of September and October, the kids would walk to KFB to learn farm-related science lessons.
Lessons included learning about plants, soil, composition and seed germination.
The kids also had a day where they were all given a worm to observe to learn about how worms contribute to the soil.
They also had a lesson on pollination using the KFBees and an observation hive.
The best part about time on the KFB Farm was having several taste tests of the vegetables being grown right onsite such as yellow beans, carrots, radishes and microgreens.
It is so important to teach kids about how food is grown, so Kids’ Food Basket encourages interactive learning with kids getting their hands dirty on the farm.
Time was spent planting and harvesting fresh vegetables such as pea shoots in the hydroponic system and sunflower seeds.
Students kept garden journals where they could draw pictures and write notes about their activities.
The goal was to teach kids activities that they can recreate at home – for the purpose of creating a stronger and healthier community.
Kids were sent home with seeds and garlic bulbs that they could use to start their own gardens.
The understanding of food from its source and the work and time it takes to grow it resonates with students, and helps them understand the magnitude of the number of children in West Michigan who have limited access to healthy food at home.
Lessons on the farm help build a bridge of teaching future generations about the importance of farming as a career and its impact within our society, not to mention eating healthy and helping get that healthy food into the community for overall optimal health.
“Because Kids’ Food Basket stressed that the lessons on the farm were helping the community, the kids felt like they were helpers more than learners through this process,” said Margo Kol, a teacher at Plymouth Christian Elementary. “They were exposed to a different way of looking at what is happening in the community and that other kids need help getting food – they understand the idea of helping someone out.”
Our community’s children need you now more than ever. When things seem at their worst, we can be at our best. Please consider making a gift that is meaningful to you to ensure that we can continue our immediate and ongoing response to hunger in West Michigan during this time of crisis.
