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A SERVICE
LEARNING PROGRAM AT LOS POBLANOS FIELDS
BENEFITS FOR YOUR GROUP
CONTACT US IF YOU WISH TO ADOPT-A-CROP The Adopt-A-Crop program engages students in hand-on activities on the farm, while empowering them with a sense that they are giving back to their community. Youth work directly with the farmers and interns, and all sessions are structured to deepen students' understanding of science, ecology, botany, agriculture, and the environment. The program is designed to strengthen science literacy through multiple farm visits that are built on themes such as soil, plant cycles, food chains, etc. All students learn about the history of the crops they work with including the folklore and legends in the case of younger students. Some teachers choose to use the garden to support creative writing math, and science classes in the classroom. Because our program utilizes public lands to grow food for the community, the gardens also become a platform for demonstrating a variety of related topics, including the social benefits of green spaces in urban settings, the potential of sustainable urban agriculture, the concept of how a food system works, how our current food system operates related to the availability of healthy food to all people, and food choices as related to health and nutrition. Additionally, the program helps our youth to be able to grasp the issues of poverty and hunger that are prevalent in our city. In this environment we are able to provide examples of successful connections between farmland preservation, wildlife habitat and the possibility of urban agriculture to feed local citizens. The list of advantages to learning in the garden would not be complete without the including the how vital it is for young people to understand how their food grows, and to taste fresh food right from the garden. Participants visit the farm on three occasions, in three seasons between April 1 and October 20, to plant, harvest and save the seed from a one of several traditional southwestern crops such as corn, beans, or squash. The visits do not have to occur in any one particular sequence, as the seed saved in autumn is replanted in the spring. As crops are harvested successively throughout the summer, youth from other programs such as APS Summer Program for the Homeless, church groups, and other community service groups will also harvest from the same crops throughout the summer. Produce and seed, which are harvested by Adopt-A-Crop participants, are donated to local food banks and soup kitchens, except when harvested by homeless children who take the food back to their shelters. In this way crops are mutually cared for by different groups of students. During harvest, youth have the opportunity to work with other students from different parts of the city and thereby are exposed to economic and ethnic diversity which also connects them to our broader community. The program runs April 15-October 20, and utilizes the educational coordinator and the farmer. Last year we served approximately 1000 students. |
WHAT
IS ADOPT A CROP?