By Yaza Sarieh
Yaza Sarieh is a contractor for Farm to School at Georgia Organics and a Childhood Health and Wellness intern at the Georgia Department of Public Health.
Sign up today for the eighth annual Georgia Farm to School and Early Care and Education Summit, held virtually from Tuesday, April 27 through Saturday, May 1. The Summit features dynamic education sessions highlighting gardening, cooking with kids, local procurement, curriculum integration, and more! This event is hosted by Georgia Organics and the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning.
“In Farm to School and ECE, I love the shift that is taking place to incorporate the whole child. Rather than thinking that food is just fuel, food is starting to be used in other components of childhood wellness such as mental and emotional health or physical health.”
Farm to ECE initiatives are a wonderful tool to educate children about the complexities of life, whether it is the different dynamics at play when procuring local foods, the importance of health and well-being, or the value of our environment. Wendy Palmer, a registered dietitian and certified health education specialist, has found ways to weave these different topics into garden and nutrition education.
One of Wendy’s Farm to ECE favorite strategies is using the garden to promote positive mental health outcomes. She encourages educators to utilize the garden not only to teach children about where food comes from and how it grows, but also to show students unique coping or stress-reducing mechanisms.
Wendy mentioned, “Exercise is a great way to relieve stress and cope, but there are other ways that we can encourage good mental health strategies early on as well. We can teach children to meditate in the garden, to care for plants or to harvest healthy foods for them and their families, activities that will nourish a sense of accomplishment. FTECE gives us the opportunity to engage with students in some many different ways!”
Wendy is thrilled to be participating in this year’s Summit, to share knowledge as well as to learn from the wide variety of expertise present. During her session, Wendy will be giving us insight into the ways that you can utilize Farm to School to support holistic childhood development -- physically, emotionally and academically.