S.C. farm-to-school initiative goes statewide

CHARLESTON, S.C. — A College of Charleston-based, multi-agency farm-to-school initiative funded by grants from Boeing will go statewide beginning in 2015.

The program will expand from Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties to also include counties across the state, where the Medical University of South Carolina's Boeing Center for Children's Wellness has worked to help schools implement their wellness policies.

“Farm-to-school is a social movement that creates an atmosphere of optimism and excitement about eating for optimal health and wellness, which is important for a number of reasons including that healthy people drive community economic development,” explains Professor Olivia Thompson, farm-to-school director within the Mayor Joseph P. Riley Institute for Livable Communities at the College of Charleston. Jessica Jackson, Global Corporate Citizenship manager at Boeing South Carolina, adds “the farm-to-school initiative is important for a number of reasons. It promotes healthy eating and living habits with children at an early age; increases access to locally-grown foods; and, through comprehensive school-based gardening programs such as the Green Heart Project, it promotes S.T.E.M. learning through the experiential process of starting and maintaining a school garden.”

The farm-to-school initiative is designed to support the state's farm-to-institution programming and has five main components that strengthen both the demand and supply sides of the farm-to-school equation, as outlined below. Thompson says that each component is necessary for success:

1. Workforce development for educators: Clemson Extension agents Amy Dabbs, Jennifer Schlette, and Zach Snipes have developed “School Gardening for South Carolina Educators,” a new online course with one full day of hands-on instruction that assists educators in the creation of sustainable school gardens. Teachers who complete the course earn continuing education credits; receive cutting-edge, cross-curricular course materials and supplies needed to construct or improve gardens; and are paired with Clemson Extension master gardeners and South Carolina farmers for ongoing agricultural technical support.

Additionally, this past summer teachers participated in a curriculum writing workshop and authored a S.T.E.M.-focused textbook for students in grades K-8 that will be published and available for use in garden classrooms in 2015. The textbook incorporates applications in business/entrepreneurship and soft skills such as leadership and also includes a nutrition supplement written by nutritionist Dana Mitchel.