Lower columbia school gardens is a 501(c)3 farm to school organization serving 20 elementary and middle schools in two school districts in rural longview and kelso, washington

The Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded Lower Columbia School Gardens a $211,800 project grant under the Food and Agriculture Service Learning Program (CFDA 10.522) for the period of September 1, 2021 through August 31, 2023. The grant will support Lower Columbia School Gardens' efforts to increase capacity for food, garden, and nutrition education programming in 20 elementary and middle schools located in Longview and Kelso, Washington. Key activities to be funded by the grant include developing robust connections between students and local food producers to enhance career exploration and food systems education; expanding garden, nutrition, and community engagement opportunities in high-need schools; and implementing leadership skills-building for middle school students engaged in garden-based learning to better prepare them for agriculture-related careers. The grant aims to benefit approximately 5,240 students over the project period through hands-on learning opportunities.

Through partnerships with longview and kelso school districts, healthcare providers, and other community organizations, lower columbia school gardens (lcsg) provides programmatic and administrative support of school garden programs within cowlitz county. The mission of lower columbia school gardens is to empower the community by connecting kids and families with real food and hands-on learning. Through dynamic garden and cooking programs, we cultivate health, equity, lifelong learning, and stewardship of the world around US.this project will increase capacity for food, garden and nutrition programming in our 20 school gardens in the following ways:create robust connections between students engaged in lcsg garden programming and local food producers to improve career exploration, and food systems education in our existing programs.expand opportunities for garden, nutrition and food education and community engagement in our highest need schoolsdevelop and implement activities, lessons and projects that promote leadership skills and knowledge acquisition for middle school students engaged in garden-based education programs to better prepare them for agricultural and related careers upon graduation.both longview and kelso school districts participate in the national school lunch programs. Overall, both districts have a high percentage of students receiving free or reduced lunch; specifically longview district serve 64% in 2020-21 and the kelso school district serve 61% in 2020-21. Several individual schools identified in the project have significantly higher proportion of students receiving free and reduced lunch in 2020-21: 87% (ST. Helen's elementary), 76% (kessler elementary), 74% (monticello middle school) and 87% (wallace elementary). Cowlitz county continues to have one of the highest percentages of citizens who rely on food benefits (snap) in the state of washington.lcsg needs to increase the level of service in our food and agriculture support services to bolster food security, nutrition and education efforts in our two lowest income neighborhoods (highlands and south kelso), especially. Community organizations and neighborhood associations there have requested collaboration and partnership from lcsg to build a local food economy that includes food access, garden-based learning activities and nutrition education. Further, improving the health of children is a cultural and community-wide endeavor. Lcsg needs to engage local growers and bring local food system partners together to improve food, nutrition and agricultural education opportunities for k-8 youth in our gardens.by the end of this project term, 840 students at wallace, saint helens and kessler elementary schools will have a safe, thriving, and fully equipped garden and accompanying year-round learning opportunities. A minimum of 50 teachers will be trained to incorporate garden-based learning into their classroom teaching. 400 middle school students across both districts will demonstrate improved leadership skills and knowledge about food and agriculture careers, nutrition and gardening. 4,600 students will experience a personal connection with a local food producer and demonstrate increased competency about local food systems and resources. A new community garden will be established and mobilized in partnership with youth and family link, and the existing community garden at the highlands neighborhood association will be better supported by lcsg and better integrated into our programs. Overall lower columbia school gardens will engage a minimum of 100 new families in low-income neighborhoods in garden-based education activities, and more latinx, chuukese and other bipoc community members will engage in lcsg garden-based learning activities and services. In addition, this project will enhance our programs to the benefit of participating students during the project term and beyond. Students will increase their knowledge and skills for gardening, agriculture and nutrition. Their health behaviors, preferences for fruit and vegetables and knowledge about nutritious foods will improve as they participate in these programs. More students will be exposed to agricultural careers, and invested in supporting local food systems, producers and farmers.