Seed 2 Plate

Executive Summary

Over the last four years, Jones Valley Urban Farm (JVUF) has worked hard to develop an innovative project that converts vacant urban land into production organic urban farms. We have developed a prototype agri-science high school course and have had over 75 participants. Our organic produce and flowers are used in some of the cities finest restaurants and our presence at the Pepper Place Farmers Market provides locals with the opportunity to benefit from locally grown healthy food. We are working with a dozen other organizations to develop the Food Security Coalition of Jefferson County and are currently developing a model demonstration urban farm and community garden in downtown to address the food security needs of that neighborhood and the City of Birmingham.

But despite all these accomplishments, our real work has yet to begin. Jones Valley Urban Farm now has the foundation to begin confronting one of Birmingham's most pressing issues – childhood obesity. Like any major issue, the cause for the skyrocketing obesity rate among Birmingham's youth is complex. However, JVUF is in a unique position to confront the core issue.

The Seed 2 Plate Program will bring children out to our urban farm, teach them how to grow healthy produce, and then how to improve their diet by eating fresh produce. Encouraging youth to eat more fresh produce by growing their own food changes their behavior in two ways. Students will get exercise through gardening and be more likely to eat fresh produce they helped grow. This confronts the two major causes of obesity and therefore their penchant for diabetes – poor diet and lack of exercise.

Seed 2 Plate is the first step in changing these behaviors. Classes will be encouraged to return for multiple fieldtrips, recognizing that repetition is the key to long-term behavioral changes. With this in mind, parents of the students will be encouraged to become involved with JVUF, either by spending their JVUF ‘Produce Vouchers', volunteering at the farm, or participating in a local community garden. Students will be encouraged to share their experiences with their parents by following up the fieldtrip with a food journal.

With six hundred students participating in this pilot project in the first year, JVUF will continue having the positive impact on our community that we have laid the foundation for the last 4 years. With your support of $11,750, this can become a reality.

Project Description

Seed 2 Plate is a collaborative project between JVUF and The Culinard Institute. The basic component of the project will be a half-day nutritional experiential field-trip offered to Elementary and Middle Schools in the Greater Birmingham Area. Seed 2 Plate will be offered from August through May and class size will be restricted to 20 students a day to ensure a true experiential experience for each participant.

Students will arrive at JVUF at 9:30 a.m. JVUF staff will provide students with an introduction to the farm; including our history, safety-guidelines, and the program objectives. From 10:00 to 12:00 students will break into small groups and rotate through a series of stations, each focusing on aspect of organic food production. These stations will include soil preparation, seed propagation, compost production, weed and pest management, and harvesting. Students will learn about each subject while actually participating in the activity. Once each group has moved through all the stations, students will take the harvested produce to the ‘mobile kitchen' provided by the Culinard.

From 12:00 to 12:30, staff from the Culinard will work with students to prepare the produce and cook lunch. Student will again learn about the Culinary Arts while actually assisting the chef. At 12:30, the students will help set the tables at the farm for a feast and serve their own food. While eating lunch, a nutritionist from UAB's Dieticians program will provide fun interactive ways for the students to see why the food they are eating is different from the food they usually eat for lunch. This will include information on the benefits of eating fresh organic produce, the benefits of eating ‘lightly' cooked or raw food, and finally on how to translate these benefits back to their home.

Students will leave at 1:00 with publications about good eating habits, contact information for their parents to get involved with the farm or community gardens in their neighborhood, and seedlings to start their own garden. In addition, parents will be given $10 produce vouchers that they can reimburse for JVUF produce at either the farmers market or the farm stand. Finally, students will be asked to keep a food journal for the week following the fieldtrip. Students will document what they eat at each meal and encouraged to submit their journal for a contest. The most creative journal that shows good eating habits will earn the student a JVUF t-shirt.

Schools will be charged $10 per student to offset the cost of the fieldtrip and pay for lunch supplies. JVUF will offer fieldtrip subsidies as well as transportation assistances to schools with a high % of low-income students. By charging a minimal fee for the fieldtrip, JVUF will be able to create a self-sufficient program by the second year of operation.

Jones Valley Urban Farm • Post Office Box 55357 • Birmingham, Alabama - USA 35255 • (205) 439-7213 • director@jvuf.org