First Lady Tours Georgia Organics Farm to School Garden

February 10, 2011

See photos of the First Lady’s tour of Burgess Peterson Academy’s school garden.

 Her visit represents a victory for Georgia Organics’ farm to school programs in Georgia and highlights the opportunity to deploy Georgia’s greatest economic asset, agriculture, to improve the health of children, promote across-the-curriculum learning, and to generate jobs.

Georgia Organics has been working closely with Burgess Peterson since 2009, when the organization helped establish their very first organic garden. States Erin Croom, Georgia Organics farm to school coordinator, “ It has been a joy to partner with Burgess Peterson to grow this program over the last two years. The program is successful because they have amazing leadership within the school, and consistent community support .” To address a need for more consistent presence at the school, Georgia Organics tapped volunteer Adam Waterson to coordinate garden activities and individual lessons with school classes.

Last year, the organization provided additional support by granting the school a Farm to School and School Garden technical assistance grant, through support of the Blank Family Foundation. The focus of this grant is not to simply provide garden tools and materials, but the train school leaders on how to incorporate farm to school activities into the daily lives of the students, and sustain the program for years to come.

Georgia Organics is also interested in establishing district-wide policy that supports the teachers, parents, cafeteria staff and students that want to grow farm to school programs. Over the summer, the organization staffed the APS Farm to School Task Force, and recently released the first draft of the report and recommendations.

Georgia Organics established the state’s farm to school program in 2008 with the goals of increasing fresh, local and sustainably grown foods purchased for and prepared in school meals and getting children to choose healthier foods. There are currently over 350 schools in urban and rural areas across the state intentionally purchasing and preparing fresh, local foods, and implementing edible school garden programs. Georgia Organics leads hands-on workshops for educators, cafeteria staff and parents on how to grow and sustain farm to school programs, and is also working on a state-wide bill that would support these program. Georgia Organics chairs the Georgia Farm to School Alliance, with members from the Georgia Department of Education, Department of Agriculture, USDA, Extension, and Georgia Department of Health, to foster collaborations among key agencies. 

FarmToSchool