2nd Graders Turn School Halls Into a Bustling Farm Stand

For the second year in a row, a team of 2nd grade teachers at Barnum School in Bridgeport, CT collaborated to turn their vision of a student run produce market into a reality. Following on the heels of last year’s success, the 2ndgrade team chose to integrate nutrition and garden education into their curriculum for the duration of the school year, with the culmination of the students’ learnings being showcased with the student-run produce market at the school. Doing so allowed student’s to gain a more holistic perspective on where food comes from, and allowed learning to extend beyond the four walls of the classroom.

Using “nutrition and garden education” as the theme for their classes, the teachers and I were able to plan and align their lessons with the Connecticut Common Core standards. The students were also taught practical skills during the course of the year that they could use when running the farm stand. This included things like learning about goods and services in social studies and understanding placeholders and its relationship to money in math class. Running the farm stand allowed this group of 2nd graders to walk away with a practical application of all of these skills.

In preparation for the launch of the three-day produce market at the school, we took 45 second graders to Sport Hill Farm in Easton, CT where they worked with Farmer Patti Popp to harvest, wash, and bundle donated greens to sell at their farm stand. We also worked with staff at Cecarelli Farm in Northford, CT who generously donated produce to feature on our CT Grown table. In addition to selling locally grown fruits and vegetables, the kids sold freshly baked bread that they made thanks to the help of local chef, Peter Gorman, who generously donated his time to bake bread with the kids in the school cafeteria.

he second grade students worked collaboratively to buy, sell and control the market. During the three days, the students we were able to reach over 700 people while raising around $700 to ensure that the farm stand will take place again next year. The teachers are also hoping to make a small donation to a local food pantry or community garden of the students’ choice.

This project was made possible by collaborating with teachers, local farmers and chefs, Carbonella & Desarbo, Nutrition Services, Green Village Initiative, FoodCorps, Target and Wholesome Wave.

http://wholesomewave.org/barnumfarmstand/