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Schools in Chicago Participate in Farm-to-School Program
Schools in several Chicago neighborhoods are participating in a new program aimed at cultivating nutritional awareness among students, Extra News reports. Estimates suggest that 633,000 Chicago residents reside in food deserts, a term that applies to a “densely populated area with limited access to grocery stores and healthy food options.” The lack of access to fresh fruits and vegetables in such neighborhoods has been linked to high obesity and diabetes rates among low-income families. Administered by Seven Generations Ahead, the Fresh from the Farm program seeks to introduce children from urban neighborhoods to gardening, farming, ecology and nutritious food choices. During a seven-week summer program at Ames Middle School in Logan Square, students planted, tended and cultivated herb and vegetable gardens and received simple classroom-based cooking instruction. A particularly eye-opening component that proved especially popular among the students was a food-mapping lesson that taught them how to use Google Maps to locate restaurants and grocery stores near their homes. The analysis revealed that, although fast-food outlets could be found on nearly every street corner, there were very few produce markets. Extra News notes that Fresh from the Farm will be implemented in several classrooms this fall (Extra News, 9/23/09).