Florida Farmers

flower EDUCATION & OUTREACH

flowerFOOD SYSTEMS

Neighborhood Nutrition Network

From 1998 to 2005, FOG worked with numerous local partners to operate a nationally recognized, multi-faceted community food program known as Neighborhood Nutrition Network (NNN). NNN developed programs including school gardening, community gardening, youth entrepreneurship and food-gleaning and distribution.

FOG received a 2000 USDA Community Food Project (CFP) grant for the Alachua County Local Food Project, which enabled NNN to work intensively with youth and local schools, establishing gardens at three schools in low-income areas of Gainesville. Students grew fruits and vegetables both to serve in the lunchroom and to share with their families. Students involved brought home a total of 150 pounds of produce in the first year of the project. Teachers incorporated the garden into lessons, working with FOG staff to develop a school garden curriculum tailored to state standards.

FOG's second CFP grant in 2003 enabled the Youth Entrepreneurial Farm and Food Preservation Project (FFPP) to expand and grow. FOG employed low-income high school students to work on one of the last remaining farms in the Gainesville city limits. Youth grew food both for donation and sale, including jam and soup, connecting to their communities while learning to develop their own business.

RELATED DOCUMENTS

Project: School Garden-An Elementary Primer (.pdf)

Based in part on the experiences of NNN’s long running school garden program, the primer provides an introduction to the history, benefits and challenges of developing a school garden and provides specific lessons tied to the Sunshine State Standards, allowing an elementary school teacher to tie specific school garden activities to their curriculum. FOG hopes Project: School Garden-An Elementary Primer will be a valuable resource for teachers and students exploring the idea of developing their own school garden.


Support for this project came, in part, from several funders, including Newman’s Own Organics Inc., the Agua Fund, The Presbytery of Saint Augustine and the Lattner Foundation, who also supported the operational aspects of NNN’s school garden program over the years.