Programs

Current Program Areas- Overview

I. Organic Schoolyard Food Production

We have been creating and sustaining a bountiful and diverse school garden which has been used as an educational community and school resource throughout the last four years. We have built a large, production style, passive solar greenhouse as an extension of the garden to extend schoolyard food production and grow fresh food throughout the coldest months of the year. We call this greenhouse our "winter garden" and it allow us to maximize student and classroom involvement during the academic schoolyear. We work in close partnership with Tappan Middle School and the Ann Arbor Public Schools in SE Michigan. The garden & greenhouse serve as an educational resource for students, teachers, and community members within the district.

II. Farm-to-School

One effective way of increasing student access to healthy foods is to connect students with local farmers by serving locally produced, fresh fruits and vegetables in the school lunch program. The creation of these more sustainable, healthy changes in schools across the country and world is a key part of a movement commonly referred to as "Farm-to-School." The Agrarian Adventure has been leading efforts locally, and networking regionally and nationally, through the creation and implemention of Farm-to-School efforts in public schools.

The Agrarian Adventure has been instrumental in creating and helping to lead the Ann Arbor Farm to School Collaboration. This collaboration is a cross-sector partnership which includes Ann Arbor Public Schools, Chartwells (the school lunch provider), and others working together and sharing resources to make enormous strides for students in Ann Arbor Public Schools.

For the 2008/2009 schoolyear, we are continuing to feature a locally-produced fresh item in school cafeterias every Friday for all of September and October. These "Farm Fresh Fridays" are being expanded this year to also feature a local, cooked vegetable on the hot bar every Wednesday for the fall season. Farmer visits into AAPS classrooms for fresh vegetable and fruit tastings are also being made possible through dedicated community volunteers and The Ann Arbor Farm-to-School Collaboration.

Additionally, The Agrarian Adventure chairs the Farm-to-School comittee and is on the leadership team of the Food System Economic Partnership (FSEP), working together regionally to make widespread educational and economic impacts in SE Michigan on food system and Farm-to-School issues and programming.

III. Curricular Integration & Teacher Partnerships

We provide essential resources to make the food system and health a part of the academic curriculum and school day throughout the schoolyear. We help integrate experiential and agricultural lessons into the curriculum by working with interested teachers, focusing on specific lessons, units of study, or classes to supplement and enhance core learning objectives. Over the years, these partnerships have impacted the school and classes at Tappan Middle School in Ann Arbor throughout all of the disciplines including Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, and Math, and electives such foreign language, physical education, health, and music.

We create & sustain a large school garden & greenhouse which is a shared resource and is used as an educational tool by teachers. We have food and garden-related curriculum & resources available to teachers. We work with classes to sponsor seasonal, school-wide educational events such as the Earth Day Seed Planting and School Garden Harvest Dinner.

IV. After-School Enrichment- Cooking & Gardening

We continue to develop and support a vibrant after-school enrichment program focused on developing middle school student skills in food preparation, gardening, and leadership. This program meets weekly throughout the school year and students form the core student leadership of the school garden.

V. Educational Events & Community Outreach

We develop, sponsor, and participate in collaborative educational food-related events for students and the local community to cultivate school and community interaction, authentic learning opportunities for youth, and generate awareness and support for local initiatives to improve the school learning environment. We organize these food-related educational events alongside youth and use them as a vehicle to welcome and include community participation in our public schools.

In the past this has included: hosting renowned chef and food activist Alice Waters for a community presentation; sponsoring two annual school garden harvest dinners in which students cultivated, harvested, prepared, and served a family-style dinner to over 120 community and school members featuring school-grown and local foods; and two spring festivals which engaged students in creating and hosting a community event which had over 25 local organizational and business sponsors (In spring 2007 over 100 students worked with a professional chef in classes to prepare locally-grown, fresh, nutritious foods including nori rolls for over 300 community participants!)