SP0100: Farm to School

While factory-farming and big agriculture have arguably had more impact on our civilization's development than any other technological advancement, increasingly people - especially our children - are losing touch with where the food they eat comes from and how it is grown. The goal of the 'Farm-to-School' project is to bring context back to the knowledge surrounding agriculture as sustenance in children's lives, learning science through agriculture, the environment, nutrition and entomology.

In the pilot project funded by the SPF, McGill students of AGRI 482 (Special Topics: Education and School Gardens) along with their professor, Dr. Caroline Begg, collaborated with the children of Joseph-Henricot elementary school of Baie-d'Urfé in the West Island region of Montréal. Students young and old alike got their hands dirty, establishing and maintaining a schoolyard garden. They learned how to plant and sow their own vegetables, and followed their crops from seed to harvest. Participants in 'Farm to School' experienced the enjoyment of learning to care about local, small-scale agriculture for sustenance and  community strength, as well as some of the freshest produce of their lives!

The project has grown with great success past its original SPF funding, and continues to organize workshops at the Macdonald campus and participating schools. The website offers free downloadable educational modules for teachers to use in their classrooms.

This year the 'Farm-to-School' team is also introducing a fantastic Summer Camp in August 2014 where children will learn all about the journey their food takes from the farm to the plate!