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Growing kids in the school garden | Zsofia Pasztor | TEDxSnoIsleLibraries


we are the ones we have been waiting for
this is a quote I use in my email
signature because this is and has been
my truth when I encounter an obstacle I
roll up my sleeves and I do what needs
to be done to either move it or jump
over it when darkness falls I light a
candle and I ask others around me to do
the same because most of us can do the
same as much as I’m the catalyst for
many I also have my own heroes and I do
know that the Hungarian proverb help
yourself and God will help you to is
true God or no God it’s true when we act
the world responds a seed will grow if
we plant it
and children will grow in school gardens
when we let them all live starts with a
seed a spore or something similarly tiny
and it is a miracle how large it gets
over time even though it has to overcome
so many obstacles floods droughts the
munchers the Trump purrs lawnmowers
small feet big feet it grows it grows
roots and then it grows branches and
before you know it it bears its own
fruit with the next generation of seeds
inside it humans became a civilization
when we started planting seeds expecting
a specific result
because it’s empowering when we
introduce children to the secret of the
seed they grow I was a little child when
my parents acquired a tiny piece of land
in a tiny village in tiny Hungary and I
started helping in the fields
neighboring families growing food going
through the woods hunting for mushrooms
herbs flowers leaves berries
I helped raising animals and butchering
them and I helped my mom preserve the
bounty of summer for the winter and it
developed an inherent deep appreciation
in me for every bite we take farmer Frog
started in the winter of 2009 and 10
when teachers at Olivia Park Elementary
School had asked us if we could help
them grow food for the families who lost
their homes in the economical crisis and
were camping out at the parking lot
overnight in their cars sleeping there
feeling safe we said yes my husband and
a very good friend of ours has cleared
more than 19,000 pounds of blackberry
vines in January 2010 and by July I had
that garden space planted and hundreds
of families were coming each week to get
their fresh produce as this became their
lifeline other teachers and parents from
other species had asked us to do the
same for them and in just a couple of
years we found ourselves managing school
gardens food distribution and helping
teachers with curriculum in the gardens
and sharing recipes with families today
former frog has 13 school sites and 5
farms around Puget Sound we have dozens
and dozens of committed passionate
volunteers and team members who are
helping our projects and programs and
serve the community
as a refugee I was familiar with what it
feels like not to know where your next
meal will come from
but I really understood what food access
was when we immigrated into the u.s.
because most people have no idea where
their food comes from
they don’t even understand a lot of
times what healthy food is today in the
u.s. millions of children go to bed
hungry regularly and when they eat the
nutrition in the food at school and
sometimes even at home is little because
the food has sugars and artificial and
processed items baby carrots that are
kept in plastic bags traveling for
months
Maya’s verb’ sawdust the Surgeon General
four years ago had said that children 18
and younger were faced with a shorter
life expectancy than their parents
generation all due to preventable
nutrition and lifestyle related diseases
how can we solve this epidemic the
solution is literally growing in our
hands we can create school gardens and
bring food and education in these spaces
to all children when they garden at
school develop a curiosity and they
taste new things and then they go home
and they tell their family to do the
same children who garden are the best
ambassadors for healthy eating so what
does a good strong successfully
operating school garden look like but
children are participating parents and
the families are participating neighbors
and the community is participating
teachers and faculty are there and the
community is supporting it with funds
because
most schools rarely have any funds left
to start and support edible school
gardens this is Delilah Emma and miss
Rita
miss Rita grew up in Croatia and grew
her own family’s food most of her life
until they had to emigrate because of
the war when she found out that there
was an edible school garden at her
grandchildren school she started
bringing them and coming every single
open garden night she would bring her
seeds in the spring she tends to them in
the summertime and then she picks the
beans and squashes in September her
granddaughter’s are garden warriors
because they share their knowledge and
experience with other children who then
come to the garden as well this is
Carlos he is in middle school now an
incredibly strong young leader he was
the president of Discovery Elementary
School’s garden club when he was in 4th
and 5th grade children could not resist
him because he was talking to them with
so much passion and positive energy
about the garden
Alissa and Robbie siblings who owned a
small business with their mom and they
make kiddie toys using leftover
materials selling it at markets one year
they donated more than $400 to olivia
Park Elementary School purchasing
foldable benches and pipes and those
pipes became arches over pathways and
support miss Rita’s bean and squash
plants and this is little Z she is one
of our youngest garden warriors she’s
brilliant she knows how to garden and
she’s a very good boss
she makes sure that people around her
understand exactly each and every task
and completed as supposed to to the tea
she’s very passionate about the garden
and talks to a lot of people unknown to
us in 2010
Olivia Park Elementary School was
actually slated to be shut down because
it was a failing school in 2012 they
received the most improved school award
because they were in the top elementary
schools of the state teachers and
families credited the garden for that
achievement because families came to the
garden and started talking with the
teachers with each other children saw
that they were running around and they
were not fidgeting in the classroom but
they were inspired by all that and
started paying more attention getting
their grades up they ate better and the
test results came up so you may be
thinking now I know nothing about
gardening I kill everything I plant
I have a black thumb or this is great I
don’t have any kids and I don’t even
know where the school near me is how can
you participate well you can join a
garden you can join community you can
join clubs you can participate in fun
events you can host fundraiser events
you can give what you have and can maybe
a few hours every year maybe a few hours
every week maybe you can actually donate
funds and be the community member that
supports that garden maybe sharing the
social media updates and posts
everything counts because in the end we
are the seed we are the gardener’s we
are the ones we have been waiting for
thank you
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