Sustaining Our School Gardens
The Crim and Flint Community Schools have been partnering for over a decade providing school gardens as learning spaces not only for each school but as a resource for the surrounding community. Part of working toward more sustainable school gardens, the Crim has added a Garden Coordinator which is part of the Farm to School Project. The Garden Coordinator position will focus on sustainability and using the gardens to serve schools and the community. A huge part of accomplishing this will include assembling a Garden Committee to work together to establish a vision and turn that vision into reality.
The Farm to School Project and sustaining FCS gardens aligns with our Nutrition team’s work toward PSE (Policy, System and Environmental change). For environmental changes gardens offer physical changes that modify the environment to make healthy choices practical and improve availability of healthy options to the community. We look to improve and add systematic changes by implementing processes and operations in our gardens that also make healthy choices practical and available to the community. As for developing policies that improve healthy options and availability we look to implement standard practices that provide the community with a safe and functional garden that serves people the best way possible.
Meet Jared Badour who is the Garden Coordinator. Jared has had multiple roles at the Crim but as a FoodCorps alum he is excited to shift his focus back to school gardens. Jared is also excited to be a part of Farm to School, working closely with Flint Community Schools, FoodCorps service members, programs such as 10 Cents a Meal, the Flint community and other partners in this great city. If you have any interest in getting involved with Flint Community School gardens and/or the Garden Committee, please contact Jared at jbadour@crim.org.
Community Gardening and Getting Involved
Did you know that Flint Community School gardens also serve as community gardens? If you live by a Flint school or are passing by, stop to check out what’s growing and even pick a cherry tomato to eat fresh out of the garden. Even better if you, people you know or any organizations would like to volunteer or become a garden partner, please contact us! Our vision is to improve school gardens by GROWING community involvement around them. For more information about getting involved with FCS gardens, contact Jared Badour who is our Garden Coordinator.