A million-dollar grant for Healthy Gardens, Healthy Youth

Washington Ag Today April 27, 2011 Washington State University Extension is the lead institution on a new “Healthy Gardens, Healthy Youth” project funded by a one million dollar grant from the USDA Food and Nutrition Service. The Cooperative Extension Services of Iowa State University, Cornell University and the University of Arkansas are collaborating with WSU on the project.

Brad Gaolach of WSU Extension is the lead scientist.

Gaolach: “We are developing a pilot program to bring gardens into schools and link them closely to nutritional outcomes and other academic outcomes. The intent is they will experience both the growing of the product and eating the product and based on the unique aspects of each community they are involved in it may also include providing those products into food banks or other low-income access points.”

The schools selected to participate in the pilot project have at least 50 percent of their students qualified to receive free or reduced-price school meals. There are 70 elementary schools nationwide participating with 12 of those in Washington state. All but one of those schools are in western Washington. The Ritzville Grade School is the one eastside elementary in the project. Westside participants include elementary schools in Sedro-Wooley, Tacoma, Auburn, Renton, and Vancouver.

I’m Bob Hoff and that’s Washington Ag Today on Northwest Aginfo Net.

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