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foodplantsolutions.org/wp-content/...ure-2014.pdf

What are the benefits of school and community gardens?

  • The students at the schools enjoy the benefits of the plants they have grown as they are provided with a nutritious lunch at school.
  • Initially children only tend the plants at school, but within a short time-frame they can be provided with seeds to take home and plant there. Families then start to grow more of their own plants and vegetables.
  • The skills the children learn will benefit them should they become farmers.
  • Schools save money from not having to buy food, which allows this money to be redirected to other necessities for the school.
  • School enrollments increase as parents feel more confident in the school’s ability to provide for their children nutritionally and give them safe clean meals. This in turns frees up parents to increase their household income as they have more time to work when their children are at school for the full day.
  • Malnutrition reduces. Some programs have seen reductions between 80-95%.

To assist in the development of these programs, we have created a School and Community Gardens pamphlet. Simple and direct in its design and well illustrated, this could provide the basis for starting a school or community garden.