USDA grants help plant seeds of good nutrition with school gardens

After Michelle Obama planted one at the White House, more schools are adding gardens to teach kids about growing food and eating right.

By Nanci Hellmich, USA TODAY

Since first lady Michelle Obama planted a garden at the White House in the spring of 2009 and invited schoolchildren to help tend and harvest the produce, more school gardens have been sprouting up across the country.

Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announces it will award $1 million in grants for eligible high-poverty schools to start community gardens.

The goal: to teach students about gardening and nutrition and to provide fresh produce for school meals. Some of the harvest may also be given to students' families, as well as to local food banks and senior-center nutrition programs (http://www.fns.usda.gov/).

Improving nutrition in schools is part of the first lady's Let's Move! initiative to fight childhood obesity.

School gardens "give kids exposure to where food comes from and encourages them to try foods they might not otherwise try," says Kevin Concannon, USDA undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services.
They give teachers an opportunity to talk about soil, water, sun, health and science, and the gardens can be used for math and art programs, he says.

Concannon has visited school gardens from Maine to Missouri to California.

When a second-grade girl took him on a tour of her elementary school's 2-acre garden in Riverside, Calif., she waxed eloquent about strawberries, he says, pointing out that they contain vitamin C. "This was music to my ears," he says.

Estimates suggest that about 15% to 20% of schools across the country have gardens, says Mike Metallo, president of the National Gardening Association, a non-profit group that provides gardeners and teachers with information and resources.

Since 1982, the gardening association has given out 9,310 grants and awards worth $3.7 million, reaching 1.4 million young gardeners, he says (http://www.kidsgardening.org/).

"We've supported everything from small herb gardens at inner-city elementary schools to large, raised-bed vegetable gardens in middle schools," Metallo says.

The group is taking applications for its youth gardening programs, which are financed by corporations.
"In most areas of the country, schools can do a spring garden and fall garden and get parents, kids and community volunteers to maintain them throughout the summer," Metallo says.

The gardening association also provides money for indoor gardening projects with light tables and curriculum, he says.

"It teaches students about roots and stems and the process that is going on. A lot of times, they can grow lettuce and herbs quite easily.

"Kids love to plant seeds. They love to watch them sprout and grow. It's magical."