Student Farmers elevate Student Farming in New Jersey

GREENandSAVE Staff

Posted on Thursday 21st July 2022
Student Farming

Our GREENandSAVE Staff is pleased to inform our members and readers about organizations that are helping to promote sustainability. If you would like us to profile your organization please Contact Us.

Student Farmers is actively looking to recruit a student ambassador in New Jersey, as well as farm mentors in New Jersey that can help guide students. Overall, student farming is a great way to reduce the distance from farm to table and increase health for students as well as their parents.

Here is an overview on Student Farmers 

Student Farmers is a growing group of students who are committed to in-home and in-school sustainable farming as a means to promote physical fitness and environmental stewardship.

Our Mission: To improve health and nutrition education, combat the challenges of climate change, and support each other in generating some revenue to help pay for college.

Our Vision: To increase knowledge about the advantages of eating more heathy and locally grown vegetables across the range of high school and college age students. We also hope that many of the parents of the students will learn from their children’s engagement in our organization and adopt a diet with less processed foods to reduce the growing cost of healthcare. 

Here is an example of an agriculture education program in New Jersey:

Jersey Fresh Farm School Recognition and Award Program Accepting Applications

The 2022 Jersey Fresh Farm to School Recognition and Award program wants to find the top school in the state participating in farm-to-school activities, according to a news release from the New Jersey Department of Agriculture.

The program also recognizes schools that work with farmers and the community to ensure students have access to healthy Jersey fresh fruits and vegetables in their school cafeterias and teach about agriculture through growing school gardens.

Schools that meet the criteria in the application will be acknowledged for their Farm to School efforts by receiving a Jersey Fresh Farm to School kit, including a Jersey Fresh Farm to School banner, aprons, pencils, seasonality charts, Jersey Tastes flyers and media templates to announce their recognition.

“We’ve witnessed some amazing Farm to School programs with more than 200 schools having participated,” said New Jersey Secretary of Agriculture Douglas H. Fisher. “Our goal is to encourage students to make healthier food choices, learn about New Jersey agriculture, develop an appreciation for where their food comes from and how to incorporate it in their daily lives.”

More Details

Farm to School programs provide hands-on, experiential learning opportunities to help students learn about local agriculture, how food grows and what it means to eat healthfully with a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Farm to School activities can include, but are not exclusive to:

  • Nutrition education, including taste tests with produce purchased from local farms.
  • Harvest meals serving locally sourced products from New Jersey farms.
  • Farm to School curricular tie-ins that connect the cafeteria to the classroom or school garden.
  • Visits to or from local farms that teach students how food is grown.
  • School garden education that ties directly into what is already being taught in the classroom.

The deadline to complete and submit the application is July 31.  One exemplary school will be honored with this year’s “Best in New Jersey Farm to School Award” during Jersey Fresh Farm to School Week, Sept. 26-30.

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