Farm and garden programs can make learning real for students. But a program only helps students who can get there, afford it, and feel at home once they arrive. What do community educators do about this?
In fall 2020, early in the COVID-19 pandemic, the researchers interviewed 21 educators and managers from nine Bay Area nonprofits. The organizations run garden and farm programs ranging from field trips and after-school classes to paid internships for teens. Some serve particular low-income neighborhoods in Oakland, San Francisco and San José. Others, based on farms and ranches outside the cities, serve schools from across the region.
The researchers found:
- Shared spaces brought people together. Community gardens, farm events and farmers markets gave students and neighbors reasons to meet and work side by side. In one San Francisco community garden, students used the same space as older local gardeners. An educator described how "the kids really look out for the garden and the community looks out for the kids," with the gardeners keeping the space safe because they knew children used it.
- Families' knowledge became part of the lesson. One educator opened lessons by asking students what plant, tea or food someone had given them when they were sick. She treated elders and students as equally valuable sources of knowledge. Students also interviewed family members and heard from guest speakers. Several organizations grew crops that local families eat, such as collard greens at a school serving mostly African American families. Educators said this introduced new foods and started conversations about how different cultures cook the same crop, such as corn.
- Indigenous knowledge came in through partnerships and lessons. One organization's educators were trained by a local tribal community and learned activities that community uses, such as holding community meetings, building shelters and gathering food. Another taught about native plants that Indigenous people rely on.
- Practical support opened doors. All nine organizations relied on grants and fundraising. Three offered some programs free. Five used sliding-scale fees, so schools with more students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch paid less. For remote sites, getting there was the biggest hurdle, so one organization gave high-need schools about $500 each toward a bus. City organizations bought public transit cards for students, and one ran a "walking school bus," in which staff walked students from school to the farm. Seven organizations translated materials into the main local languages, such as Spanish, Mandarin and Arabic. Two offered sign language interpreters, special microphones and captions for deaf students. One educator led a whole overnight camp in Spanish for a group of girls, three of whom had never seen the ocean.
- Staff time was the limit. Most of the organizations were small, and they often had more interest from schools than they could serve. As a result, outreach to new schools slowed or stopped. Few organizations tracked which schools they were reaching or missing; most simply reported enrollment numbers to funders.
What this means for your practice:
- Invite home knowledge. Start a lesson with a question about family remedies or foods, as one educator did (finding 2). Invite parents, grandparents and elders in as guest speakers, or have students interview them.
- Grow what families eat. Educators said familiar crops sparked conversations about food and culture (finding 2). Ask families what they cook at home, and plant some of it.
- Use shared community spaces. Partner with a community garden or farmers market so students learn alongside neighbors (finding 1).
- Lower the cost. Sliding-scale fees tied to free-lunch rates, and grants or fundraisers for buses, were the main ways organizations kept programs affordable (finding 4).
- Solve the trip. If your site is close to a school, consider walking students over. If it is farther away, look for funding for buses or transit passes (finding 4).
- Speak families' languages. Translate outreach materials into the most common local languages, and hire staff who share students' languages (finding 4).
- Prepare students before a field trip. One organization visited classrooms before trips so students knew what to expect and felt less nervous about unfamiliar outdoor places. The study does not report how much this helped, but it is a simple step to try.
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Track who you reach. Because few organizations knew which schools they were missing (finding 5), the researchers recommend mapping which schools and neighborhoods take part and which do not. They also suggest groups of schools and organizations that meet through the year to share training and reach new schools.
The Bottom Line
The researchers interviewed 21 educators and managers from nine Bay Area organizations that run farm and garden programs for schools. Shared community spaces, such as community gardens and farmers markets, brought students and neighbors together. Educators drew on families' own knowledge of plants and foods and grew crops local families eat. To help more students take part, organizations kept costs down, helped with travel, translated materials, and hired staff who spoke students' languages. Their biggest limit was staff time: small teams often could not keep up with interest from schools. For educators, the study offers a practical set of ideas for welcoming families' knowledge and removing everyday barriers of cost, travel and language.