It's a wonderful fall afternoon and 21 third graders are learning about nutrition and environmental science as a part of their every day school lessons. But they're not sitting in a classroom. You walk through furrows of fertile, dark soil surrounded by rows of lettuce, onions, carrots and other produce on the sun-drenched coast of San Mateo County.
“This is an organic farm,” says Sara Neale, their guide. “Do you know what organic means?”
“Original?” a boy said, shrugging his shoulders.
“That means we don’t use any chemicals,” she says with a smile.
Over the subsequent hour, the kids picked cilantro, tomatoes and other produce, learned about insects, nutrition and environmental science, and at last cut up what they picked and ate it on homemade tacos. It's all a part of a curriculum that continued for weeks after she returned to her classroom at El Granada Elementary School.
“Remember that saying, ‘Don’t do it to me,’” Neale told them. “When someone tries something for the first time, don’t say it’s gross.”
It has been for greater than 20 years HEAL projecta nonprofit education group based in Half Moon Bay, has brought classrooms stuffed with students to a five-acre farm just off Highway 1 across from the tiny Half Moon Bay Airport and surrounded by the rolling hills of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The organization runs programs to assist children find out about science – akin to the parts of a plant – and provides them practical advice about where their food comes from and eat healthier.
“It’s a real hands-on experience,” said Brett Schilke, the organization’s executive director. “Children touch, feel and taste all kinds of foods that they might not otherwise see. They harvest it themselves and turn it into something they eat. Often it's their first time on a farm, they're cutting vegetables for the first time, they're eating some of these foods for the first time. It’s a way for children to connect with nature and the foods they put into their bodies.”
Last yr, this system served 4,100 students, most of them second, third and fourth graders from throughout San Mateo County. Of those, 3,600 children participated in field visits and one other 500 participated within the group's summer day camps or gardening programs at their schools.
Overall, 36% of kids got here from low-income schools in places like Redwood City, East Palo Alto and Daly City.
The farm visits may seem to be a straightforward, fun field trip, but they contain essential information that may help children find out about every part from childhood obesity to climate change, supporters say.
“This is long-term education,” said Schilke. “We wish to create a foundation for these children that can last for a few years to return. We hear an infinite stream of stories from parents and the community saying, “My kid would never try vegetables, and now they're begging me to go to the store and buy chard.” I just joined in just a few days ago “I spoke to a mother who said her children were now in their 20s and they said they remembered being here as children and what they ate.”
The group, whose acronym stands for “Health, Environmental and Agricultural Literacy,” began in 2001 with a gaggle of fogeys from Half Moon Bay who planted a faculty garden on the San Mateo coast. It grew and have become an independent nonprofit organization just a few years later. Today it has 15 employees, a 12-person board of directors and about 90 volunteers, and an annual budget of $768,000.
Schools pay to go to the farm. But schools in areas with the bottom household incomes or the best percentages of English learners are allowed to return at a cheaper price or free of charge. The organization is asking Wish Book donors for $25,000 to cover the associated fee of college visits in probably the most disadvantaged communities.
During the recent visit, Stacey Walsh, a third-grade teacher at El Granada, said visits to the farm would help her teach environmental and science lessons.
“Often children learn more by engaging in activities such as being in nature, seeing, smelling and tasting things, rather than looking at a screen or a book,” she said. “You can’t choose vegetables from a book.”
After learning in regards to the parts of a plant, what aphids are, and the difference between a tomato and a tomatillo on the last trip, the kids picked vegatables and fruits and headed to an out of doors dining kitchen.
Neale handed out small knives, went over knife safety suggestions and told them they were making tacos.
“You’re the chef,” she said. “You decide what to cut into pieces and put on your taco. I challenge you to try everything.”
They dutifully sliced every part up, rolled it into flour tortillas, and eagerly dove in.
“I love green onions,” said third-grader Ashley Murray. “They make everything taste better. It's very beautiful out here. I like how you can try new things. I learn more on the farm than in class.”
Her classmate nearby, John Lacerda, had just finished picking onions and wasn't yet convinced he should eat any.
“It’s kind of fun,” he said. “You learn about plants. I've never had a tomatillo. I’ve never been to a farm before.”
Would he eat the onions and cilantro?
“I’ll try a carrot,” he said, smiling.
Across the table, his friend Wolf Guel was devouring his taco.
“I like to grow all kinds of vegetables,” he said. “They take really good care of the plants here. I learned that plants need water, sun, soil and air and we should take care of them.”
THE WISH BOOK SERIES
Wish Book is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization operated by The Mercury News. Since 1983, Wish Book has produced a series of stories through the holidays that highlight the needs of those in need and invite readers to assist make those wishes come true.
WISH
Support is provided through donations The Heal ProjectThe farm field trip program includes staff, gardening supplies, tools, kitchen ingredients and transportation stipends. Goal: $25,000
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