Despite an eventful hurricane season this year, September and October are a great time to get back into school gardens after summer break. Many schools are already well on their way: planning for the year, re-establishing garden beds, clearing weeds, and starting fall plantings.

There is plenty of work to do, and students’ residual summer energy can be channeled into school garden activities in time to celebrate national Farm to School month this October.

What does “farm to school” mean exactly? This is a movement that is happening across the nation to integrate garden and nutrition education into K-12 school curricula. Core components of farm to school programs are education, school gardens, and procuring healthy local products for school cafeterias.

Garden education programs focus on connecting kids with the food they eat, and have many positive effects both at school and in the community. Working with students has a broad impact, as children bring home what they learn at school and share with their family and friends.

Building more connections between schools and local agriculture also boosts economic development through job creation and positive impacts for farmers and ranchers in accessing new markets. These are win-win situations for keiki and the community.

Healthy habits start early

Fresh fruits and vegetables can be exciting, and they taste so much better when they are grown with love and harvested yourself. This excitement is evident to anyone who watches a child pull a big, bright carrot from the ground for the first time. Hands-on experience in the garden is a very effective way to connect students with their food; participation in school gardens and related farm to school activities have increased students’ access to, and consumption of, fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as increasing their willingness to try new foods.

Many schools are bolstering these nutrition benefits by connecting their cafeterias to their garden programs. One option is to choose produce that kids can grow, that can be used in the cafeteria, and that cooks like to use. With a teacher coordinating, school cooks can request produce orders directly from the students, which also creates an opportunity for marketing, business, and entrepreneurship lessons.

At a larger scale, the Hawaii Department of Education is also working with schools to incorporate more local produce into cafeteria menus.

The ‘Aina Pono Hawaii Farm to School program has been collaborating with the Kohala Center, Kokua Hawaii Foundation, and other organizations on Hawaii Island to run a pilot program at the Kohala complex of schools—providing students with meals cooked from scratch featuring Hawaii grown products, using recipes developed in collaboration with cafeteria staff and adapted to fit both local tastes and school lunch nutritional guidelines.

Building on successes and lessons learned on Hawaii Island, the program expanded to include Mililani High School on O’ahu this year.

Here on Kauai, the Mala’ai Kula Farm-to-School Pilot program under Malama Kauai is currently in its second year at two Hawaiian-focused public charter schools: Ke Kula Ni‘ihau O Kekaha Public Charter School and Kawaikini New Century Public Charter School.

This is the island’s first farm to school pilot program, and has been successful in increasing student access to nutritious and culturally-relevant school lunches. At Kawaikini, over 50 percent of all food for the cafeteria was sourced from Hawaii farmers and ranchers during the first year of the program, and the locally sourced salad bar was popular at Ke Kula Ni‘ihau O Kekaha.

In addition to the focus of school lunch provisioning, the Mala’ai Kula program also integrates hands-on education around agriculture and nutrition.

Another innovative way to improve student food access and nutrition is by creating a “Share Table” in the cafeteria. A share table is a place where students can share or exchange whole fruits or unopened snacks they are not going to eat, and students who are still hungry can take extra. This is a simple way to help students in need and reduce food waste simultaneously, as well as increasing student awareness of these issues.

School cafeteria programs can also connect to the school garden through composting. Composting has many benefits including reducing waste, recycling nutrients back to the garden, and potentially providing revenue for schools as well.

On O’ahu the award-winning Windward Zero Waste School Hui program now includes five schools and has made remarkable progress toward redirecting cafeteria waste into a valuable resource — their compost sales are popular with the local community of gardeners who rapidly buy as much as the schools can produce.

Plan your garden for sustainability

One common challenge for school gardens is upkeep and sustainability. Weeds grow quickly, especially here in the tropics, and can easily get out of hand without regular garden maintenance. Look for ways to build partnerships with community neighbors, parent volunteers, or local organizations that can contribute time for maintenance, especially during school breaks.

It also helps to be realistic about the resources you have available and to plan accordingly. Start simple and build on success, as you refine the system that is manageable for your school.

Planning ahead with an eye for sustainability will help in the long run; there are lots of resources available to help with the planning process. The University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR) Master Gardeners are available in every county and are happy to advise on school garden projects.

They can help develop garden plans and incorporate ideas that may reduce labor needs, like automated irrigation systems or cover crops to protect the garden during school breaks. As an integral part of any garden program, it is also important to teach and role model good safety practices, both while working in the garden (safe tool use, proper clothing, spatial awareness, managing exposure to elements), and food safety (proper washing, storage, and preparation of the garden produce).

Connecting with curriculum

School gardens can be powerful hands-on learning laboratories for students to explore topics across the standard curriculum. There is great potential for engaging with other teachers in the school in creative ways to use the garden space, and more engagement from school faculty and staff can help give the garden project sustainable longevity as well.

Here are a few ideas to consider: Can teachers develop applied math exercises looking at garden geometry? Can biology and earth science classes conduct experiments there? What about teaching Hawaiian culture and history topics around canoe plants, native plants, and introduced species?

Could art classes use materials from the garden, or have students lead creative projects decorating the garden area or creating informative signs for visitors? The possibilities are endless! There is already a robust framework of curricula available to get started, so there is no need to completely reinvent the wheel when developing a school garden or farm to school program. There are lots of free resources to support educators who are interesting in establishing or revitalizing their school garden. More information can be found through the following organizations:

w The Hawaii Farm to School Hui provides statewide resources and contact information for organizations on each island active in farm to school efforts: bit.ly/2xxRH59

w University of Hawaii CTAHR Master Gardeners website: bit.ly/2NkFFXC

Select the “School Garden Resources” tab on the left-hand side

w The National Farm to School Network offers great ideas, teaching materials, and curriculum resources for celebrating Farm to School month: bit.ly/1zvUC6Z

w The Kauai School Garden Network is a way to connect and keep up to date with school garden happenings here on Kauai: bit.ly/2xltVKF

Eating healthy and supporting local agriculture are always in season, and now is a great time to connect with school garden projects in your communities. Come out and celebrate Farm to School Month at one of Malama Kauai’s school garden workdays on Saturday October 6th at Ke Kula Ni‘ihau O Kekaha PCS in Kekaha from 9 a.m. to noon or at Kawaikini NCPCS in Lihue from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. or consider planning an event at your school as well!

Happy Farm to School Month everyone!

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Emilie Kirk is Junior Extension Agent – Agroecology; Kaua’i Master Gardener Program Coordinator; Cooperative Extension Service; College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawaii.