Get the Parents Invovled
Many farm to school education programs incorporate parent education as a part of their curriculum. There are many benefits of bringing parents into the program, and these can include:
- Holistic integration of healthy food eating behaviors
- More student familiarity of healthy foods, resulting in less cafeteria food waste
- Local farm product is more familiar at the store or farmers’ market, resulting in more economic benefit for farmers
- Parents learn about gardening alongside students, resulting in more community and backyard gardens
- And more!
Those were just a few examples of why bringing parents into farm to school programs works. Many non-profit organizations also give nutrition and cooking classes to parents in a way that is consistent with farm to school ideas.
Here are some programs with resources on how to effectively teach parents, from cooking to shopping.
Meatless Mondays
Eating less meat and more healthy plant-based foods can help reduce the incidence of chronic preventable diseases, preserve precious land and water resources, and combat climate change. Creating a Meatless Monday campaign is a great way to connect your garden to your parents and families at home!
Cooking Matters
Cooking Matters provides free resources, including lesson plans for all ages, recipes, handouts, and more, for those in the community who want to provide food education to families.
Chop Chop Family Resources
Chop Chop Family Recipes features recipes, monthly newsletters and more to educate kids at home about cooking healthy meals. The Chop Chop Kids Cooking Club is a free cooking challenge for kids.