Kindergarteners on the Farm!

By Isabel Burgess and Lauren Wetherbee, Worcester Kindergarten Initiative

It’s been a busy year at the Worcester Kindergarten Initiative! The initiative, which is facilitated by the Massachusetts Farm to School Project in conjunction with the Worcester Public Schools, is a multidisciplinary nutritional education program that aims to teach kindergarteners about healthy eating and local farms in a fun, hands-on way.

Last week’s field trips to Community Harvest Project’s Brigham Hill Farm in North Grafton marked the end of the program’s third year in action. Community Harvest Project is a volunteer-cultivated farm that aims to build a thriving, healthy community around the mission of hunger relief. Last year, the work of 7,000 volunteers allowed for a donation of over 250,000 pounds of fresh produce to the Worcester County Food Bank. Our students were excited to get their hands dirty and learn more about the importance of fresh fruits and vegetables—not only in their own lives, but in the Worcester community as well.

Kindergarteners explored the farm on a hayride tour, helped CHP volunteers plant seedlings in the fields, taste-tested a variety of fresh vegetables, and planted their very own cherry tomatoes to take home. In addition to our 450 students, nearly 60 parents and caregivers joined their kindergarteners to share their local farm experience. For many of these family members, it was their first time on a farm and it was great to hear their thoughts about the visit. A number of adults talked about returning to Community Harvest Project with their children to help out later on this summer.

The trips also gave us a chance to talk with students about what they had learned in the Kindergarten Initiative this year. We chatted with individuals about local produce, healthy foods, and the importance of farms. Their enthusiasm was contagious—it’s impossible not to get excited when you hear a kindergartener talk about the food cycle or rattle off a long list of the vegetables they love to eat!

The visits to Community Harvest Project proved to be a wonderful end to a successful year. Through their classroom curriculum, farm visits, taste-tests, and other experiences, the kindergarteners of City View Discovery School, Chandler Elementary Community School, Belmont Community School, Woodland Academy, and Elm Park Community School have grown into enthusiastic explorers of local farms and healthy eating. We wish these students the best of luck with their future food and farming adventures, and look forward to meeting our new kindergarteners in the fall!

For more information about our program (and some really cute photos!) check out our website at http://www.massfarmtoschool.org/programs/kindergarten-initiative/ or our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/worcesterki