The Dirt

Dear Wonderful Volunteer Team,

As April is the celebration of volunteers all across the land, I want to let you know how very much I personally appreciate what each of you do for and with our organization.  Without you, we would not be able to push our services further out into the community. As stated in our annual report, “Volunteers mean our Success!”  Over 1,200 of you receive the volunteer call each week.  You’ve given over 2,500 hours at the SFC Farmers’ Markets alone!  And you get to work with our fabulous Volunteer Services Director, Rebecca Saltsman, who was recently voted favorite volunteer manager – we’re very proud.

Everyone has such busy lives, so it is not lost on me that you have lots of things vying for your time.  I am so thankful that you include SFC in your giving priorities.  Your gift of time and talent is immeasurable, and we truly do appreciate you!

Thank you,

Ronda Rutledge

Executive Director, Sustainable Food Center

Jordan Elementary and Walnut Creek Elementary both have active school gardens through Sustainable Food Center’s (SFC) Sprouting Healthy Kids project in partnership with Marathon Kids (MK). This project helps to organize wellness teams of parents and staff and connect them to SFC and MK programs and resources. At Jordan Elementary and Walnut Creek Elementary, wellness teams have actively participated in SFC’s Spread the Harvest program.

Jordan Elementary’s garden is thriving, thanks to the help of wellness team parents. The predominantly Spanish-speaking parents began to organize themselves into a wellness team during the fall of 2010. Parents and staff held an SFC School Garden Leadership Training and also attended an SFC Basic Organic Gardening class series. They built 3 garden beds and planted their first seeds with the support of Alicia Sanchez, the Parent Support Specialist, and David Domanski, the art teacher.

At the start of the following school year, parents were ready for a new semester and a new season of planting. Last fall, they arrived at SFC’s Spread the Harvest Resource Give-away Day to pick up plants, seeds, and compost for the school garden. Rocio Garcia, a lead parent, later organized an SFC Basic Organic Gardening class series attended by 15 wellness team parents and staff. At one wellness team meeting, Rocio reflected on why she’s involved: “I want to set an example for my kids. My mother suffers from diabetes, so I want to show my kids that being healthy is important. I look for new ways to change up what we do as a family.”

The wellness team has continued to paint a vision of a healthy lifestyle for their school. They have organized a farmer visit and produce sampling in the cafeteria, daily fitness classes, and two family health fairs. In the spring of 2012, five core wellness team parents attended SFC’s Spread the Harvest Resource Give-away Day to get supplies for their school and home gardens. Their energy and teamwork continues to be instrumental in making their school and community healthier.

At Walnut Creek Elementary, it’s been a great year for gardening. Ms. Audel and Ms. Eaton, two teachers who were active participants in the school’s wellness team last year, organized and hosted an SFC Basic Organic Gardening Class in November. The class was offered in English with Spanish interpretation. In total, 17 faculty members, parents, and students attended. 

In early February of this year, Ms. Audel started an afterschool gardening club. Students meet after school every Wednesday to weed the garden, plant seeds, and taste the beets, greens, radishes, and other vegetables that they have grown. After the first day of the program, one student remarked, “This is the best day of my life!”

In early March, Ms. Audel was able to add to the garden by picking-up free seeds, transplants, and compost from SFC’s Spread the Harvest Resource Give-Away Day.

Starting on April 4th, Walnut Creek hosted another SFC Basic Organic Gardening Class for Spanish-speaking parents enrolled in an Austin Learning Academy ESL class that is taught on campus. The goal is not only to educate, but to encourage all parents and families to participate in the school garden.

Grow Local’s Spread the Harvest Resource Give-Away Day is just one of many ways that Sustainable Food Center (SFC) supports health and wellness programs in our Sprouting Healthy Kids partner schools.  Teachers and parents from many of these schools came out in full force to the New Day Community Garden on Thursday, March 8, 2012, to collect plants, seeds and compost for the school gardens. 

These parents and teachers have been very successful in their school garden projects thanks in part to the community organizing work of Sustainable Food Center and Marathon Kids.  Through this partnership, parents and staff have formed wellness teams that address various school health issues by creating a space to talk about wellness and then accessing resources from SFC, Marathon Kids, and other community partners. 

A dedicated parent leader on Norman Elementary’s wellness team collected garden resources for both her home garden and the community garden that Norman families share with St. James Episcopal Church.  Since the beginning of Norman’s participation in Sprouting Health Kids (Spring 2009), members of the Norman school community have attended SFC’s Basic Organic Gardening classes, SFC’s School Garden Leadership Training, and SFC’s The Happy Kitchen/La Cocina Alegre™ cooking class series.

Reilly Elementary’s wellness team designated a teacher as the school contact for garden resources.  The plants, seeds, and compost he collected will be shared among teachers from several different grades who regularly engage their classes in gardening lessons.  Thanks to the wellness team, some teachers have connected with parent volunteers so students can plant in small groups and enjoy a more hands-on experience.  This team has also planned a family kickball league, found healthier options for after-school snacks, and hosted an SFC The Happy Kitchen/La Cocina Alegre™ cooking workshop.

Pickle Elementary also has a teacher on staff who is the designated school contact for garden resources.  While her energy has driven much of the garden efforts, other teachers on the team maintain their own garden plots, and she relies on the team’s help to tell others about opportunities for in-class planting, and for assistance with overall planning and maintenance.  As a team, Pickle parents and staff have also invited a farmer to visit the school cafeteria, coordinated a family health night, hosted an SFC The Happy Kitchen/La Cocina Alegre™ cooking class series, and started a student running club, parent walking club, and dance-based fitness class.

Despite last year’s drought that brought some setbacks to the previous growth of Farm to Work, the first week of April 2012 is the largest grossing week of sales for local farmers since the program began. This worksite wellness and local foods delivery project was created in 2007 in partnership with Texas Department of State Health Services(DSHS) to establish new sales outlets for family farmers and provide state workers with access to healthy, local food.  Farm to Work now serves thirty worksites, and has involved a dozen farmers.

A complete list of all Farm to Work partner sites from 2010-11 is available in our annual report http://www.sustainablefoodcenter.org/about/reports.  New partner sites for this year include two Office of the Attorney General locations and the Texas Department of Transportation in Austin plus the San Antonio Children’s Shelter, the Alamodome, and CPS Energy in San Antonio.  After an extended seasonal break due to the drought, we are glad to see deliveries resume at DSHS Main, Austin State Hospital, Department of Aging and Disability Services, Department of Family and Protective Services, and Applied Materials. Gundermann Acres (formerly Gundermann Farms), Green Gate Farms, and Animal Farm are all expanding their reach to satisfy these new or returning sites, and SFC is proud to welcome Vanderpool Gourmet Gardens to the program.

Joan Gundermann of Gundermann Acres shows off the bounty of her farm that she shares with customers at Texas Education Agency, Comptroller’s Office, and several other state agencies, through Farm to Work.

While the favorable spring growing season has been a plus, the widely increasing interest in local foods and the incredible quality of produce that the farmers are producing should get credit for Farm to Work’s development.  It’s also important to note that the expansions are due to Cecil’s hard work combined with diligence on the part of Becca Montjoy, who provides support for SFC Farm Direct projects, and the increasing functionality of the web-based ordering and payment tool designed in conjunction with WebChronic Consulting.  This is a very workable model, with $152,000 in sales in 2011 and reaching 2,000 customers, who – as surveys have shown – are otherwise typically not shopping farmers’ markets or members of CSA’s.  Future work will include a continued expansion with more farmers and more worksites, and SFC preparing to share lessons learned and best practices with other groups interested in “farm to work” activities around the state and across the country. 

As we head into spring are you hoping to see more kids having a good time at the market? You think kids should be learning at a young age that cooking and eating healthy is fun? We think so too! Every week at the SFC tent at our downtown location, we have something fun for the kiddos. On the 2^nd and 4^th Saturdays of EVERY month, rain or shine, we have The Little Kitchen. The 1^st and 3^rd Saturdays we hold Li’l Sprouts, full of engaging, educational activities that encourage eco-awareness and spark dialogue about how our food gets from farm to plate. Both offerings take place from 10am-12pm and are a great opportunity for kids of all ages to see how much fun it is to grow, share and prepare healthy, local food.

With different recipes in The Little Kitchen, kids can have fun making “ants on a log”, pecan-butter balls, smoothies, sweet potatoes, and so much more. And don’t forget, these fun cooking activities focus on local and sustainable recipes! That means the majority of ingredients are sourced that morning, on site from the market. And all of the recipes have an SFC twist: pecan-butter on a swiss chard stalk for ants on a log; locally made hummus and crisp, colorful veggies--every recipe is made for the kids to enjoy, educate, and you can take the recipe to recreate this fun at home! So let’s recap: you want your kids to eat local and healthy and still have fun? Head to the SFC Farmers’ Market Downtown to get the kids involved, pick up a recipe, and shop around at the market to find those very ingredients. We’ll see you there!