FRESHFARM FoodPrints Hits New Milestones
This August, we enter our 19th year of FoodPrints programming. We are buzzing with excitement as our program reaches new milestones while still holding true to what we do best: providing students with joyful experiences growing, preparing, and eating local food. Over the last 18 years, FRESHFARM’s flagship education program has proven that positive experiences with nutritious food sustain minds and bodies, grow healthier communities, and build appreciation for the natural world. As the 2024-25 school year begins, we are thrilled to share three key developments in the evolution of our program.
1. The unveiling of the first teaching kitchen in Ward 8
A few years ago, the Garfield Elementary School building was slated for modernization. As plans for the new school design progressed, the school community and FoodPrints program staff worked together to emphasize the importance of including a teaching kitchen as a homebase for the FoodPrints program. On Thursday August 29th, Chancellor Ferebee and city leaders in education visited Garfield to celebrate the modernization and unveil a beautiful new teaching kitchen for the FoodPrints program and the Garfield school community — the first teaching kitchen in a Ward 8 DCPS school.
Garfield students will now unearth fresh carrots and sweet potatoes from the soil in their new school garden and then safely use kitchen tools to cook and eat them together with friends in their school’s new teaching kitchen. According to findings about FoodPrints outcomes published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, we are confident that joyful memories and acquired skills from these experiences will endure for these students beyond the school year. This research found three lasting impacts of the FoodPrints program: appreciation for fresh food, an openness to trying new foods, and confidence to make informed food decisions. We are thrilled that Garfield Elementary students will enter this school year with a beautiful space to make positive food memories and learn lifelong cooking skills. We hope that every future school modernization in Washington, DC, will include a teaching kitchen.
2. FoodPrints’ expansion to Kentucky’s Frankfort Independent School District
At Frankfort, Kentucky’s K-8 Second Street School, the Farm to School Coordinator Connie Lemley, math and science teacher Dana Newland, and school counselor Amy Young were determined to bring a food and garden education program to their school. After witnessing the students’ and community’s excitement for a garden club and newly improved flower and vegetable gardens on the school grounds, they searched for a curriculum to build on this enthusiasm. Once they discovered the FoodPrints Curriculum, they decided to start the FoodPrints at Second Street School program and have partnered with our Director of Education Jenn Mampara and Curriculum Manager Hannah Schiff to learn from our experience and tailor the program to their needs. Students in Frankfort have already had a successful first month of programming and have been busy chopping local veggies and making homemade ranch, taking care of the school garden, and asking for fresh, local apples in the cafeteria! We will continue to share updates on this partnership throughout the school year.
3. George Washington University Researchers and FoodPrints enter a second year of food literacy evaluation
This school year marks the second year of partnership with researchers at George Washington University who will continue their close look at how our program develops food literacy competencies for our elementary students and also our university student service learners. This research focuses on how the FoodPrints program creates integrated outcomes of knowledge, skills, and empowerment, and looks at the levels of these competencies that our students demonstrate. Although data is still being collected and analyzed, the first year of this research project revealed how strongly students feel about what they are learning and doing in the program.
We are grateful to our diverse and wonderful team of educators, students, partner schools, and stakeholders for their support and excitement as we kick off this school year. Stay tuned for updates from kids at Garfield Elementary, our team in Frankfort, our researchers from GWU, and more!
