Detroit nutrition director gives tips on starting school gardens

Betti Wiggins, executive director of the Office of School Nutrition for Detroit Public Schools, is calling for more school gardens, reports the StarTribune.

Wiggins—who launched the Detroit School Garden Collaborative in 2011—recently gave advice to nearly 400 teachers and representatives of 45 Minnesota schools at the fourth annual Schoolyard Garden Conference held in Minnesota.

Schools looking to add a school garden but lacking the funding given for free- or reduced-lunch participants could consider adding a 5 cent “tax” per school lunch, Wiggins said, according to the StarTribune.

She also suggested hiring seasonal garden attendants—whom she calls G.A.s—to oversee the growing of produce and meet with the students.

“That gives accountability on both sides,” Wiggins said. “If a teacher commits to taking their children to the garden and a G.A. is waiting there, it’s harder to skip doing it.”

Read the full story via startribune.com.