By Chrissa Carlson, Executive Director
Most folks get a case of the warm fuzzies while watching students interact with healthy foods and nature at Great Kids Farm. But the work extends beyond feel-good moments. While the Farm's programming is driven by the needs of Baltimore's students, City Schools' innovation in developing this resource has gained national attention.
Beginning last school year, the USDA has routinely hosted Produce Safety University workshops at the Farm. This one-week training prepares school foodservice staff to safely purchase and manage fresh produce served in large institutional settings. Through this program, over 180 food service directors from nearly every state in the nation have visited the Farm and learned about its practices for cultivating, processing, and distributing fresh produce to schools--a feat that requires stringent adherence to food safety procedures, and stricter process controls than retail sales.
Last fall, the Leadership for Healthy Communities work group of the Center for Global Policy Solutions visited the Farm during the Childhood Obesity Prevention Summit in Baltimore. The group was impressed by the vision of the school system in taking on this ambitious project, and inspired to implement ideas in their work across the nation.
In this video, Chip Johnson, Mayor of Hernando, Mississippi shares some thoughts on how Great Kids Farm model--using the assets of a working farm to teach across the curriculum and encourage healthy eating habits--can be translated to other cities across the nation.