Farm to ECE

Georgia is having a Pepper Palooza!

By Yaza Sarieh 

Yaza Sarieh is the Georgia Organics Community Collaboration Coordinator. 

Graphics created by Ana Maria Paramo

For the past ten years, Georgia Organics has coordinated a statewide campaign to get kids eating, growing, and learning about a new fruit or vegetable during October Farm to School Month.  Over the years, this campaign has encouraged millions of Georgians to get excited about local fruits and veggies – even the ones that have a bad rep!  

Our 2022 October Farm to School Month campaign, Spinach To Win It, reached over 700,000 Georgia students. Check out all our previous fruit and vegetable-themed campaign materials here. 

This year’s October Farm to School Month campaign is celebrating PEPPER PALOOZA

Graphics created by Ana Maria Paramo

Peppers are awesome because they not only grow and thrive right here in Georgia, but they are also found in cuisines all over the world.  

When you sign up for October Farm to School Month: Pepper Palooza at bit.ly/pepperpalooza, you’ll automatically receive access to our free electronic toolkit full of pepper-themed materials. From lesson plans to classroom & cafeteria recipes, plus school garden resources and everybody’s favorite: merch – this campaign is going to be pepper than ever. It’s downright spicy! 

To get peppered for Pepper Palooza, we asked some Georgia Organics staff to share some of their favorite pepper meals: 

I love to eat peppers in all kinds of salsas and hot sauces, which I eat on everything. I also love all peppers on pizza.
— Kimberly Koogler, Community Collaborations Manager
I love to eat Muhammara, which is a red pepper dip from the Middle East. It is great with pita bread or vegetables! When you sign up for Pepper Palooza, you can get a free kid-friendly Muhammara recipe!
— Yaza Sarieh, Community Collaborations Coordinator
I love this recipe from the New York Times: Skillet Chicken with Black Beans, Rice and Chiles.
— Lydia Hsu, Farmers Services Coordinator
My favorite way to eat pepper is in a non-traditional Italian sausage and peppers recipe. I like to char my onions with red and yellow bell peppers, then add fresh garlic and fresh oregano with chicken sausage. It’s a very simple and yummy recipe.
— Kimberly Della Donna, Community Collaborations Director
I’ve been snackin’ on jalapeños frescos since I was 4 years old – my favorite way to enjoy a spicy, healthy snack! When I decided I wanted to step away from a career in professional theatre, I never dreamed that farming and agriculture would be my next big step. For my first growing season this spring, I decided to stick to my love of peppers & grow six different varieties to see what new peppery dishes I could explore…on my list to try are: Sofrita, a traditionally Puerto Rican soup featuring aji dulce peppers (ajicitos) & Peperonata (Sweet Bell Peppers With Olive Oil, Onion, and Tomatoes) – using doe hill golden bell peppers – and my own hot sauce using habanero, jalapeno & aji amarillo chili peppers, all home grown from USDA Organic seed sourced from Southern Exposure Seed Exchange.
— M.F. Espinoza, Communications Fellow 

Speaking of eating peppers, we have some BRAND NEW resources and activities specifically tailored for school nutrition!  As part of our toolkit, we have different cafeteria recipes and promotional materials that will get everyone pumped for peppers. Additionally, when districts serve peppers at least once a week during the month of October, they are eligible to win a very special prize! Check out the requirements and contest information here.  

Courtesy of Emily House, Gainesville, GA 

Courtesy of Samantha Tarvin, Walker County 

And speaking of contests, don’t forget to share all of your fun pepper activities for our social media contest! Use #pepperpalooza in your social media posts for the chance to win a fantastic prize. Social media winners will be selected each week and highlighted in our weekly engagement e-mails throughout October. At the end of the month, one lucky winner will receive a grand prize – so don’t snooze on the palooza! 

What are you waiting for? If you haven’t signed up already, REGISTER NOW to get this Pepper Palooza started!  

To learn more about Georgia Organics visit georgiaorganics.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube by searching (Georgia Organics).  

Georgia Organics Conference Recap: Community Collaboration Session on the Use of Storytelling to Improve Social Awareness, Grow Leaders, and Foster Belonging in a School Setting

By Yaza Sarieh 

Yaza Sarieh is the Georgia Organics Community Collaboration Coordinator. 

Active Inclusion Session - Photo by Jenna Shea Photojournalism

In mid-February, the annual Georgia Organics Conference & Expo created space for community members to learn from each other and reinvigorate impactful connections at the Perry National Fairgrounds. On a rainy Thursday morning, the Community Collaborations track kicked off with a session titled: Active Inclusion – How telling our collective stories improves social awareness, grows leaders, and fosters belonging in the community, facilitated by Sagdrina Jalal, Founder of SageD Consulting, and Rukia Rogers, Founder of the Highlander School of Atlanta. This interactive workshop provided participants with tools to help them transition from an understanding and commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion to implementing strategies that support the changes they desire.  

Sagdrina Jalal - Photo by Jenna Shea Photojournalism

Rukia Rogers - Photo by Jenna Shea Photojournalism

Both Sagdrina and Rukia are Social Justice Activists and Educators with extensive experience supporting leaders to develop their impact through the use of storytelling and authentic engagement. They started the experience with a commemoration and acknowledgment of the Muscogee tribe and African American slaves who were stewards of the land that we occupy. This reflection transitioned into a discussion about mission-driven programming, using The Highlander School of Atlanta as a case study.  

One of the core principles of the Highlander School’s mission is that children are “active discoverers and constructors of their own knowledge,” and that “they have the right....to be a part of the decision-making process.” To fulfill this mission, Rukia talked about how the school must constantly and rigorously reflect on the ways their mission and values are present in daily activities. For instance, when students encountered an unhoused person asking for food, they started to ask questions, and expressed a desire to help enhance food equity in their community. Educators allowed the students to take the lead, and so they made bowls for unhoused people to eat from, and they inspired the creation of a community garden accessible to everyone in need. This is just one example of how stories can reflect and communicate the values and missions of an organization in meaningful, tangible ways. 

The Highlander School - Photo by SageD Consulting

The example of the Highlander School was a segway into the interactive portion of the Active Inclusion workshop. For this portion of the session, Sagdrina used her background as the Founder of SageD Consulting to coach participants on effective messaging of their missions. Sagdrina emphasized that effective messaging cultivates community-centered networks and amplifies diverse voices. Some of the factors she encouraged participants to consider were adapted from the Anti-Racist Farmer’s Market Toolkit and include: 

  • Who are the sponsors, partners, and collaborators? 

  • What are those partner organizations’ values? 

  • Where does your organization advertise? What are the advertisers’ values? 

  • Does the organization have community partnerships that benefit the most vulnerable members of the community? 

These questions are crucial for communicating the message consistently, and ensuring that it represents and resonates with the intended audience. Session participants then engaged in a small group campaign activity to create messaging campaigns that related to a shared topic and values. This learning opportunity proved to be a strong start to the conference, as participants collectively practiced how to promote healing, belonging, and equity in this setting and beyond. 

Interactive Activity - Photos by Jenna Shea Photojournalism

To learn more about Georgia Organics, visit georgiaorganics.org and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn by searching the handle @GeorgiaOrganics or Georgia Organics.

To learn more about SageD Consulting, visit www.sagedconsulting.com, or follow them on Facebook, Instagram (@sagdrina), and LinkedIn.

To learn more about The Highlander School, visit www.thehighlanderschool.com, or follow them on Facebook, Instagram (@rukiarogers), and LinkedIn.