Lake Buena Vista Farm to School Program

  • Location
    Orlando, Florida
  • Status
    Complete
  • Age Level
    14 to 18 Years

The Problem

Our agriscience program sees a need for access to sustainable fresh produce for our students and community. We plan on partnering with our school's culinary program to teach students how to cook fresh meals using our crops, and provide our cafeteria with fresh ingredients for school meals. The leftover produce will be donated to our local food pantry.

Our Plan

To secure funding for seeds, gardening supplies, and food processing supplies. This will allow us to plant in our raised garden beds, and start our hydroponic grow systems.

Themes Addressed

  • term icon
    Community Enhancement
  • term icon
    Food Insecurity
  • term icon
    Insecurity
  • term icon
    Sustainability

The Benefit

  • term icon
    People
  • term icon
    Environment

Here is how the project went:

The project went very well. Students were able to set up a school garden. They built raised garden beds, prepared the soil, sowed seeds, transplanted, mulched, raised and harvested crops for the spring and summer growing season.

Through this project I/we learned:

We learned the importance of working with nature and not against it. For example, using native groundcover to out compete weeds, or using organic compost and worm castings instead of synthetic fertilizers.

What I/we might change:

If we were to do this project over again, we would have used the no dig approach for garden bed preparation. This not only is less work, but the no dig approach to gardening is better for soil health.

My/our favorite part of this project was:

Watching my students apply knowledge and skills they have learned in my classroom in a hands-on experience.

Some tips, tricks or fun facts about the project:

The biggest tip for starting a school garden is placement and planning. Know what type of plants you would like to grow, and find a spot that will be productive for what you have in mind.

About Roots & Shoots

We are nurturing the compassionate leaders of tomorrow.

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