Become a Volunteer Farm Educator at Arcadia

"Watching kids see a carrot pulled from the ground for the first time is something special. Their eyes light up and and you can almost witness the synapses in their brain fire. Before your very eyes, their schema for a carrot has changed. That's pretty awesome." - Volunteer Farm Educator

Arcadia Farm field trips are full of aha! moments: when a child sees a pumpkin on the vine for the first time, when kids try radishes - and actually like them, when a teachers gets a great idea for his school garden. Volunteer Farm Educators are a key part of making it all happen.

They help monitor the space, provide instruction and supervision, and assist with general garden maintenance. We provide training for volunteers who can commit to one Wednesday, Thursday or Friday each week from 9:30am to 2:30 per week from April 1st to June 15. The full volunteer position description is here.

Helping kids discover where their food comes from is pretty magical and we happen to think it has long-term impacts, like healthier lifestyles and a healthier environment. If you want to get involved, email info@arcadiafood.org with your resume and a note describing your interest. We'd love to have your help!

Calling all early birds: Register now for Arcadia Farm Camp

Warmer months may seem far away, but we're already excited about a summer full of food, farming and fun: Registration for the 2013 season of Arcadia Farm Camp opens today! This year, we're even offering an Early Bird discount to campers who complete registration on or before March 15, so sign up now!

We're already busy planning a jam-packed schedule full of hands-on activities. There's tried and true activities, like building bug houses and making squish squash pasta, plus new ideas to try, like a food miles relay race and solar oven cooking. (101 Gardening Projects for Kids is one of our favorite resources for fun kids stuff.) We'll be working with our new Farm Director Stephen to find the right projects for young farmers and we're definitely recruiting chefs for some tasty seasonal cooking demos - email liz@arcadiafood.org if you know a chef who wants to stop by!

Plus, we're already accepting donations to the Arcadia Farm Camp Scholarship Fund. If you think it's important for all kids to have the opportunity to discover where their food comes from, head over to our scholarship fund page to learn more.

Get growing with our new workshop series

At Arcadia, we love meeting garden newbies, school garden volunteers, foodie families, and backyard gardeners. We think it's important for all these members of the good food movement to gain the skills they need to grow and eat local food.

That's why we're starting a brand new series of beginner-friendly workshops for gardeners, cooks, and kids. We're calling them Get Growing! Workshops- and you're invited!

We've designed our workshops to be family-friendly. Some workshops - like our Seasonal Cooking Class on May 13 - are intended for kids and parents to attend together. Others are designed for adults, but separate child-friendly activities are available.

All of the workshops will take place at our farm at the Woodlawn Estate (9000 Richmond Highway, Alexandria, VA), so you'll also have an opportunity to check out our sustainable demonstration farm and tour the grounds of historic Woodlawn.

We expect many workshops to fill up quickly, and you can already sign up for Planning and Designing Your Garden, Backyard Chicken Basics, and our Seasonal Cooking Class for Families. Register now to reserve your spot!

Announcing Arcadia Farm Camp 2013!

After a wildly successful inaugural season, we're excited to announce that information about Arcadia Farm Camp 2013 is now available!

We're making a few changes this time around to make camp more accessible and more fun. For example, we'll provide a transportation option to and from the farm from Old Town and Capitol Hill.* We've also opened camp up to older kids, so that eleven-year-olds and twelve-year-olds can join us. We're even offering an early bird discount for those who sign up before March 15, 2013.

This year we're also offering different themes each week: Little Locavores, Green Growers, Small Chefs, and Young Farmers. While every week definitely includes the basics - food, farming, and fun - we'll include special activities depending on the theme.

And we're definitely sticking with what works: morning chores like weeding and collecting fresh eggs, chef demonstrations, water games on hot days, taste tests, harvesting for the daily salad bar and much, much more.

We're opening registration on February 1, 2013, so stay tuned to our blog and our website for more info. In the meantime, you can also head over to our FAQ page to learn more about camp.

*Transportation is contingent on sufficient ridership, though, so tell your friends to sign up!

Field trip registration opens Monday!

We're opening registration for 2013 field trips to Arcadia Farm on Monday, December 3.

Here are some reasons our field trip program is awesome:

• We encourage kids to try new healthy fruits and vegetables by showing them where food comes from.
  
• The Groundhog Garden, our kid's educational space, is a fantastic classroom where kids can interact with each other and with nature in a positive way.
  
• We help reinforce classroom learning by providing hands-on lessons where students can experience the concepts they've learned in school. For example, check out the photo above: instead of just learning about decomposition in a book, kids can dig in the compost and even touch worms!
  

We've gotten some great feedback from teachers, like the comment below.

I thought the trip was very well organized and the volunteers were really great with the students. All the topics were interesting, age-appropriate and relevant to what we were studying at the time. I loved that the students got the opportunity to get hands on with their learning and their favorite part was tasting all the different things from the garden. - DCPS third grade teacher, fall 2012

Our program is designed for pre-K through 5th grade groups of up to 60 students. In 2013, Arcadia Farm field trips will take place on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays starting March 20. Learn more by visiting the field trip page on our website or you can download an overview of the program here for Virginia schools and here for DC schools.

We hope to see you out at the farm soon!

Wrapping up our fall field trip season

After a bustling, exciting fall season, Arcadia Farm is quiet this week after our final field trip of 2012 last Thursday.

We started the program last fall with the belief that experiential learning can play a key role in helping kids form healthy and sustainable eating habits. In other words, we think that when kids have the opportunity to learn about where good food comes from, they're more likely to eat it and they're more likely to become healthy adults. We also think the farm is a great place to explore and reinforce the concepts kids learn in their classrooms, like plant life cycles, decomposition, and pollination. Plus, the farm is FUN, for kids and adults alike.

We welcomed about 350 kids to the farm this fall and just under 1000 kids in 2012. Here are some highlights from this fall's trips:

• We got lucky: we had NO cancellations due to weather this season! In fact, we hosted most of the trips to the farm under sunny fall skies.
  
• Inspired by our trip to the Washington Youth Garden, we added farm-fresh honey tasting to our Pests and Pollination station. Not surprisingly, it was a huge hit.
  
• Education Coordinator Brandi strengthened our Taste Sensation station by incorporating healthy recipes like a honey mustard dressing and a beet salad. (Check out the kid on the right: he can't get enough of that beet salad!) She also made some awesome additions to the salad bar, including roasted eggplant and hard boiled eggs from the farm. Yum!
  
• Awesome intern Lacey filmed one of our trips, and is in the process of creating some videos of our lessons that we can share with future farm educators (and you!).
  

What really stood out this season is our fantastic field trip crew: Kasey, Eli, Adriana, Brandi, Teiji, Marta, Lammot, Morgan, Lacey, Amanda and Mallory. It was a joy to watch this awesome group of farm educators grow and learn over the course of the season and it's because of their skills and passion that we have a successful field trip program. Kudos to the field trip team!

See you in the spring! (Email liz@arcadiafood.org for more information about spring field trips).

Help us out at Snallygaster!

Arcadia is looking for help at Snallygaster, an enormous celebration of craft beer! The event is on Saturday, October 13 from 1-5pm at The Yards Park (located at 3rd and Water St. SE) and feature the finest beer and food from the Neighborhood Restaurant Group. All the proceeds will benefit Arcadia.

We need your help! We're looking for volunteers to help out at the kid's tent and the admission tent. BONUS! All volunteers receive an awesome Snallygaster t-shirt. Plus, it will be Farmer Mo's last day with Arcadia, so help send her out!

If you are interested, email volunteer@arcadiafood.org and let us know:

• TIME you would like to volunteer (9-1, 1-6 or ALL DAY) and
  
• which station you are interested in (Tickets or Kids Area).
  

It's going to be awesome! Hope to see you there. Can't make it to the event, but want to support Arcadia? Head to our website for more information.

A new crop of farm education interns!

We're welcoming a new crop of fall interns to the farm - and what inspiring bunch they are! Over the next couple of months, Teiji, Amanda, Morgan, Marta and Lacey will spend one day per week on the farm doing field work and one day per week working with young folks who come to the farm for our field trip program.

Read on to virtually meet each of them! Interestingly, if our interns were vegetables, we'd have two carrots and two potatoes, plus a pumpkin - all fall veggies!

Meet Teiji Epling...

What experiences have prepared you for this position?
I am currently working at a small library, so I have the opportunity to interact with children from the area and understand what they are thinking. Probably because of my involvement with the library, I do a lot of reading, lately mostly focused toward issues in local/sustainable food systems. I also volunteer at my local food bank in the community garden, where we grow produce to help out those who are hungry around the area. Since learning more about food issues, I've started my own garden and even have my own small chicken flock!

What are you hoping to learn as a Farm Education Intern at Arcadia?
As a farm education intern, one of my main goals is to learn effective ways in which to get youngsters interested in where their food comes from. I'd also like to continue my own learning about food issues and continue to gather resources on ways to get involved with local and sustainable food efforts. As an organic gardener, I'm excited about learning hands-on techniques for keeping plants healthy and productive.

If you were a vegetable, what would you be?
If I were a vegetable, I would be a potato. They're not particularly flashy, but pack a calorically efficient punch while always finding ways to grow regardless of the soil.

Meet Amanda Green....

What experiences have prepared you for this position?
The majority of my farming experiences until this year have been in international agriculture, so I have a lot to learn about sustainable farming in Virginia! Since
this spring I've been working as a volunteer both at Arcadia and at the Washington Youth Garden at the National Arboretum in DC, and I also have an educational background in sustainable ag.

What are you hoping to learn as a Farm Education Intern at Arcadia?
I am hoping to learn the ins and outs of small-scale, organic farming in Virginia and also the organizational and project design behind Arcadia. I'm also excited about guiding field trips at Arcadia and learning what makes children enthusiastic about eating fresh vegetables. And I'd like to get to know the chickens a little better!

If you were a vegetable, what would you be? Definitely a carrot. I would be sweet enough for desserts, good for juicing, and I'd have a good chance of being present at Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. Plus I'd have a totally wild head of hair!

Meet Morgan Maloney...

What experiences have prepared you for this position?
My experience with teaching youth volunteers construction techniques and low income housing issues has prepared me for the Elementary school Field Trip aspect of this position. I loved empowering high school students to use their hands, and a few power tools, to transform their communities. Hands-on education skills and a passion for healthy foods will allow me to teach these budding minds about the wonders of vegetables!

What are you hoping to learn as a Farm Education Intern at Arcadia?
I hope to gain a better understanding of the farm system and the role that it currently (and could later) play in the food system. Taking part in the care of the produce and learning from farmers like Mo and Liz can only lead to amazing things.

If you were a vegetable, what would you be? A carrot. I love the way carrots are dirty and strange on the outside but exquisitely crisp just beyond that outer layer. Plus, I’m a red head; obvious correlation there.

Meet Marta Spangler...

What experiences have prepared you for this position?
In addition to keeping my own community garden plot for a couple years in Pittsburgh, I have worked for several years for my neighbor’s fruit farm, located in Ortanna, PA.

What are you hoping to learn as a Farm Education Intern at Arcadia?
I’m interested in learning more about the interpretive and educational piece. I’m especially interested in seeing an example of how can we make growing more accessible to the larger community and to see how to empower people with knowledge about their food and food sources.

If you were a vegetable, what would you be?
I’m pretty sure I’d be a potato! So versatile, and so tasty, or perhaps I’d be a carrot, also delicious. I think I must be craving root veggies as it gets closer to fall, but I just love the simplicity and heartiness of good potatoes and carrots, and they can be fun to harvest, because it feels like you are digging for buried treasure.

Meet Lacey Walker...

What experiences have prepared you for this position?
I've never worked on a farm before so I'm coming at this position with an eagerly open mind. I grew up around dairy farms, small flower gardens and more recently I have gotten involved in work with animal sanctuaries.This environment, digging in the dirt and really transforming seeds into edible produce, is rather new to me. So let me speak to what sparked my interest in this position. I spent a year teaching English in France. It's impossible not to fall absolutely in love with produce in France. The open air markets, the stacks of carrots, the fresh soups, salads and quiches packed with vegetables - it's heaven! Food in France is not just an obsession for the tourists though, the children in France seemed to be much more in touch with their food systems and food options than I had been during my childhood in the US. My time there was really spent in an equal exchange of knowledge and when I got back I was eager to continue my love affair with fresh, local produce but I also wanted to find a way to include the youth in my area. Enter Arcadia.

What are you hoping to learn as a Farm Education Intern at Arcadia?
I want to learn what it means, first hand, to have a healthy farm. I am hoping to experience and really appreciate the work that goes into producing our food and understand the special thought that goes into a sustainable, organic farm. And hopefully I'll pick up some edible weed identification skills while I'm at it!

If you were a vegetable, what would you be?
If I were a vegetable I would be a pumpkin. As a kid my aunt called me Pumpkin Head and it is something that has stuck with me. I love fall weather, pumpkin pie for breakfast and toasted seeds as a snack. I like how pumpkin picking brings friends and families together. In fact, my father met my step-mother when we were at the pumpkin patch for a field trip when I was a kid!

Meet Brandi, our new Education Coordinator

We're pretty excited to welcome Brandi Redo, our brand-new Education Coordinator, to the Arcadia team. This fall, she'll be working with the Mobile Market on educational visits, on the farm with farm tours and helping out with farm field trips. She'll also be working behind the scenes to coordinate logistics.

Read on to learn more about Brandi.

Tell us about your past experiences and what brought you to Arcadia.
I grew up in Hayward, California where our high school mascot was the Farmer. Chris, my husband, (who I met in high school) and I always joke about how we weren't even nerds we were agrarian. I have always loved being in wide open spaces and eating food fresh out of the earth. I believe that the energy you put into the food you will get back and so I love making things grow with my own hands, chopping and preparing food and teaching others to slow down and do the same.

What about the position are you most excited for?
Before I came to Arcadia, I worked and continue to work as a Health Coach. I do weight-loss challenges, teach folks to prepare healthy meals in their homes and do group cooking demos and wellness seminars for all ages. I have taught classes in a number of notable locations from McDonalds Corporation to the USDA and I really want to contribute what I know about group nutrition education to the wonderful programs going on at Arcadia.

Every time I visit the farm my nose is greeted with the fragrance of beautiful flowers and fresh herbs and my tummy rumbles knowing that there is wholesome, delicious, real food at my fingertips. I am excited to introduce this feeling of connectedness and wholeness to communities where real food is scarce. I have had an opportunity to witness the magic Ben and JuJu work at the Mobile Markets and am thrilled to be a part of that.


If you were a vegetable, what would you be?
If I were a plant food I would probably be a winter squash. Either a butternut or a spaghetti squash because they make people happy and are tough on the outside but naturally sweet on the inside. The spaghetti squash is particularly appealing because it is unique and surprising.

What’s your favorite season for growing produce and why?
I really like the fall growing season because the weather is milder and I feel more motivated to get out in the yard and garden. I also like the vast variety of fruits and vegetables you can grow in early fall and the idea of the large harvest around Thanks Giving. I am a big fan of the leafy greens that grow well in the fall, especially kale and collards which are the most important part of my diet.

Help out with our fall field trip program!

Have you been looking for a way to get involved with Arcadia? Have a flexible schedule? Like working with kids? Then read on...

We're looking for Volunteer Farm Field Trip Assistants to help make field trips to Arcadia Farm safe, educational and fun. Field Trip Assistants will,provide instruction and supervision, help monitor the space, and assist with general garden maintenance.

Here's what some former Volunteer Farm Field Trip Assistants had to say about their experiences:

"I enjoyed learning and teaching about sustainable farming just as much as the children did. It was so nice to meet and work with the team of women on the farm and the children were delightful. Tasting the honey straight from the hive was a thrill as was picking up the chicken and her fresh eggs." - Volunteer Field Trip Assistant, Spring 2012

"Watching kids see a carrot pulled from the ground for the first time is something special. Their eyes light up and and you can almost witness the synapses in their brain fire. Before your very eyes, their schema for a carrot has changed. That's pretty awesome." - Field Trip Assistant, Spring 2012

We’re looking for volunteers who can commit to one Wednesday or Thursday from 9:30am to 2:30 per week for the duration of the Arcadia Farm field trip program, which runs from September 5 to October 31. For more information, read the full description here.

To apply, email Liz (liz@arcadiafood.org) with your resume and a note describing your interest.

Thanks to our Arcadia Farm Camp partners!

We couldn't be more excited about the first-ever sessions of Arcadia Farm Camp, starting next week! We're getting ready for digging, planting, watering, weeding, and trying to stay cool.

We think that it's going to be a pretty special time, and from the beginning, we wanted to include as many young farmers as possible. Now, thanks to the support of our awesome partners, we've been able to provide nine scholarships to some growing gardeners from low-income households.

So many thanks to the following partners:

• With the help of our friends at Chipotle, we were able to offer eight camp scholarships to kids from low-income families. We're so glad that these young farmers will be joining us next week!
  
• The amazingly generous staff at Cowgirl Creamery in Penn Quarter saved their tips from the summer so far and donated them to Arcadia Farm Camp. Their kindness will give yet another young person from a low-income family the opportunity to attend camp.
  
• Our friends over at SCAN-VA (Stop Child Abuse Now of Northern Virginia) helped connect us with interested families through their support group for Spanish-speaking parents. The group helps parents become effective leaders in their home and in their community and SCAN is dedicated to helping promote the well-being of children in the Northern Virginia region. We're so glad to be able to work with them!
  

Extra special thanks also go out to our Tufts Summer Fellow Tom Chalmers, who helped out with some last-minute translation of our materials for Spanish-speaking parents.

In search of great interns

Our farm wouldn't grow without interns. Period. Neither would our farm education programs. They're so crucial!

We've had an excellent spring crew (shout outs to Rachel, Elin, Steph, Bonnie and Natalie!), but since they're moving on, we're looking to find some new folks.

Check out the description below and share it with anyone who might be interested!


Farm Education Internship Description - Fall 2012

We’re looking for Farm Interns to assist with all facets of our sustainable farm and our educational programming, with a focus on fall field trips and basic farm work. Our 2-acre demonstration farm follows environmentally-sound growing practices. Starting in September, we’ll host educational farm visits for elementary school students from Washington, D.C. and Virginia.

Responsibilities
Responsibilities will include, but are not limited to:

help maintain our sustainable farm (weeding, watering, planting, harvesting, etc.)
assist with weekly volunteers on the farm
teach hand-on lessons to small groups of students during field trips, and
assist with farm tours for people of all ages.
Interns will report directly to the Farm Director and the Education Manager.
Interns will also work closely with the Mobile Market Director and other interns.

Qualifications
Commitment and reliability
Exemplary communication and organizational skills
Experience working with youth, especially in an outdoor environment
General knowledge and interest in sustainable agriculture and/or nutrition education
Creativity, enthusiasm and a sense of humor
Must be able to work outdoors in various weather conditions and lift 50 lbs
Leadership experience helpful, but not required
First Aid/CPR certification is a plus.

Time Commitment
We’re looking for interns who can commit to two days per week from August 20 to November 9.

Compensation
This is a voluntary position. School internship credit can be arranged for a minimum commitment of 10 hours per week (2 days/week).

Contact Information
Please send your resume plus a note describing your interest and relevant experience with Farm Intern in the subject line to Farm Director Maureen Moodie at info@arcadiafood.org by July 30, 2012.

Gearing Up for Field Trips at Arcadia Farm

Enthusiasm, passion, patience: these are a few of the qualities that make a great teacher, according to the staff, interns, and volunteers at our field trip training this past Saturday. As we discussed the basics of farm-based education, we also talked about how we as educators can embody those qualities and make each trip empowering for students.

In just a few short weeks, Arcadia Farm will start hosting spring field trips for kids from DC and the metro area. The goal of the training was to make sure our fantastic volunteers, interns and staff are prepared to make those trips great. Although the rain kept us indoors for most of the day, we spent time role playing activities about soil, plants, bees, chickens and harvesting so that everyone had practice teaching our spring lessons.

Amy Best, Associate Professor of Sociology at George Mason University, joined us for the training to discuss observation-based research. She has been helping us develop a comprehensive system for evaluating our programs and she'll be observing field trips to help us measure our success and improve our programs.

Sophia from Brickyard Farm, where they're starting a field trip program, also stopped by to hear about what we're doing. So did Jamie from Sweetgreen, who made a special guest chef appearance at one of our fall field trips.

Thanks to everyone who came! And special thanks to our friends at Chipotle for providing lunch for our hungry staff and volunteers.

We're enthusiastic, passionate, patient and just about ready to welcome a crop of future growers to our farm! See you in a few weeks!

Save the Date for Arcadia Farm Camp!

We're glad to announce the dates of Arcadia Farm Camp's pilot sessions! Over the past few weeks, we've been moving forward with planning a truly awesome summer camp program. We had help from some fantastic parents at our focus groups in January, and we'll use their feedback as we develop camp policies and procedures.

We're hosting two one-week sessions: July 16-20, 2012 and July 23-27, 2012. We're planning to open registration in late February or early March. For more details, head over to our website. If you still have questions, don't hesitate to email liz@arcadiafood.org for more information. You can also sign up for future summer camp updates here.

We're excited to welcome your child to Arcadia Farm Camp this summer.

What I learned at the Food Project's Winter Institute

I was lucky enough to spend two days last week at the Food Project's Winter Institute with a group of insightful, inspiring food activists from around the country. The Institute showcases the Food Project's work empowering teens to make change through sustainable agriculture.

Since Arcadia is a young organization, I'm grateful I had the opportunity to learn from folks who've been working for food justice for 20 years. I learned a whole lot, but here are some of the most memorable parts:

• Bridging divides has amazing transformative power. The Food Project brings youth of totally different backgrounds together to work on farms in both urban and rural areas. Arcadia's work connecting small farmers with city dwellers and young people to the source of their food has similar potential.
  
• From Eron at Collective Roots in East Palo Alto, CA to Ryan and Kayla at Farm Fresh Rhode Island, the Institute brought together a group of really down-to-earth folks working on similar issues. Although it seemed that we're all often overwhelmed with the injustice we see around us, we are each really passionate about working with young people to help create a more sustainable and fair food system.
  
• The Food Project teens are awesome! I was so impressed by their knowledge of the food system, their emotional intelligence and their communication skills. A solid portion of the 2.5 day institute was actually led by the teens themselves, including a stellar set of workshops about food systems.
  
• Fun is super important! At the Institute, we learned some of the great games that the Food Project staff uses with their youth teams and I can't wait to play some of them out at Arcadia Farm this year.
  

If you haven't already, make your way over to the Food Project's toolbox - it's chock full of (free!) useful materials for folks who are working on sustainable agriculture issues and youth empowerment.

Top 5 Awesomest Things in the Groundhog Garden

Things at Arcadia Farm's Groundhog Garden were pretty awesome this fall, but here are some of the awesomest things of all:

1) Farmer for a day! All of the kids who go on a field trip to Arcadia Farm get to try their hands at farming, and in doing so, learn what it takes to grow food sustainably. From planting seeds to tending to bees, they get hands-on experience in the day-to-day life of a farmer. And they get to wear great hats!

2) Salad Bar: Our friends at Whole Foods donated a salad bar to the farm, which was both a great teaching tool and a fun way to eat healthy food straight from the ground.

If nothing else, we hope that field trips to the farm will make students more likely to eat fruits and vegetables when they see them on their cafeteria trays. Since more and more DC schools have salad bars, they are one way we connect the farm to the cafeteria.

3) Chef demonstrations: Chefs from all over DC and Virginia came to the farm to teach our students simple, healthy recipes using fresh food. Special thanks go out to the chefs themselves: Alison Reed, Robert Weidmaier, Michael Bonk, Tianna Feaster, Chef Indigo (at right), Chef Jamie and our very own Benjamin Bartley.

4) New shed: With the help of builder Jesse Cooper and some generous volunteers, we designed and built a new shed especially for our Farm to School programming. It will serve not only as an education station and storage space, but also a place for kids to explore and play. Plus, it's pretty darn cute.

5) Arcadia staff in vegetable costumes: It's no surprise: (DC Farm to School Network Director) Andrea makes a great carrot. The awesomest moment of the whole season might have been when a kindergartener grabbed her and yelled: "I'm gonna eat you!"

Ready to sign your class up for a spring field trip? Email katherine@dcfarmtoschool.org and ask her to add you to our list!

DCPS Wellness Policy includes Farm to School

D.C. youth have among the highest child obesity, hunger, and poverty rates in the nation.  Since these kids spend a lot of time each day at school, we have a great opportunity to influence their health and wellness by making positive changes to the school environment.

D.C. Public Schools worked with community partners to design a Local Wellness Policy.  This document lays out a road map to make DCPS schools healthy, safe, and green.  Over the past few months, Arcadia's D.C. Farm to School Network was a part of this coalition that updated the Local Wellness Policy for its launch this week.  The policy sets ambitious targets for physical activity, nutrition, and environmental sustainability for DCPS. It also outlines a community engagement and implementation plan.  Download a copy of the wellness policy HERE.

We're excited to see Farm to School in the Wellness Policy!

• School meals will include fresh, locally-grown foods from farms engaged in sustainable practices whenever possible.
• Schools should encourage more student interaction with the food preparation process, including farm visits, cooking demonstrations and taste tests.
• DCPS will incorporate farm to school/food origin education into its standard curriculum.

We look forward to working together with DCPS to make the vision articulated in the Local Wellness Policy a reality.

What makes a great farm summer camp?

The first farm I ever worked on was part of a summer camp in the northern Adirondacks. I have fond memories of waking early to harvest kale with bleary-eyed 7-year-olds, who brought the fruits of our labor into the cafeteris for their lunch.

So when I heard that Arcadia was thinking about starting a summer day camp at our farm, I was on board right away. Teaching young people where their food comes from is clearly one of my favorite things, so combining farm education with fun and adventure sounded pretty darn perfect for me.

After doing some reading, I started to get a sense of what I had gotten myself into. So many camps to choose from! So many details to consider!

So I decided to ask you, blog readers, for help. What makes a great farm camp? What are your best summer camp memories? (Personally, I love this episode of This American Life). Parents, what are you looking for in summer camps for your kids this year?

Leave a comment or shoot me an email at liz@arcadiafood.org.

Farmer Liz is BACK!

Liz Whitehurst was Arcadia's fabulous part-time Farm Educator this past fall.  She spearheaded the design of Groundhog Garden (the space at Arcadia Farm that kids explore during field trips) and the development and implementation of our fall field trip program.

We're happy to say that Liz is back, this time in full force!  She'll be with us full time as Arcadia's Farm Education Coordinator.  Her main projects will be leading spring and fall field trips, developing summer camp program, and starting up a series of Family Fun Days on the farm.  Welcome back Liz!

Visit to Stone Barns

Mo in the foreground, and 2nd graders on a field trip to Stone Barns behind her!

Turkeys, cows, chickens, sheep, pigs. These are only a handful of the many wonderful farm animals we got to see during our trip to visit Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture last week. The Stone Barns staff were kind enough to let us, Arcadia’s Farm to School Director and Farm Director, observe a field trip and discuss the in’s and out’s of their established educational programs. 

The chickens were just moved inside for the cold weather, so kids got to harvest eggs!

Stone Barns is a non-profit farm and education center located just 25 miles north of Manhattan in Pocantico Hills, New York. Stone Barns operates an 80-acre four-season farm and incorporates broader initiatives to create a healthy and sustainable food system. Their Growing Farmers Initiative, children’s education programs, and diverse public awareness programs aim to improve the way America eats and farms. The famous restaurant Blue Hill at Stone Barns is on the property as well, engaging visitors in an incredible farm-to-table dining experience.

Stone Barns' half-acre greenhouse is always in-season!

We arrived on a crisp, clear morning last week in time to meet a group of 30 second graders for their field trip. We shadowed the group as they were led on an interactive two-hour tour that included visiting animals, harvesting eggs, and tasting produce in the greenhouse. Year round programming works when exciting animals and their huge greenhouse are always "in-season." The Stone Barns staff were incredibly helpful at sharing tips and hints for us, as we develop and grow Arcadia’s own educational programs. Thank you Stone Barns for the incredible opportunity. Now we just can’t wait to get our chickens this spring, and a summer camp up and running!