Soil Born Farms

Needs

This year we are raising funds to support Soil Born Farms programs that focus on food security for the most vulnerable children in our community. The Regenerative Agriculture practices that we have been implementing at the 55 acre historic American River Ranch, on the farm & orchard, demonstration gardens and in our youth garden, over the past few years allows us to grow more produce and reduce food insecurity throughout the community. We want to move farm to school forward in our community, closing the loop between teaching youth about healthy food and seeing where and how food is growing before it ends up on the salad bar at their schools. Youth who are exposed to healthy greens in their school garden programs and during field trips to the American River Ranch are more likely to choose these nutrient dense foods from their salad bar during lunch. Our Greens to Grow On, Farm to School, Youth Education, and Train the Trainer programs all support the goal of reducing food insecurity for the most vulnerable children in our community.

In 2024, we will be taking action to increase healthy food in school lunch programs. Your support will allow us to grow more food, train more teachers and interns in school gardens and provide more in garden and on the farm hands-on learning opportunities for students throughout Sacramento.

Our Greens to Grow On and Farm to School programs will continue to expand, increasing the amount of healthy foods in school lunch for the children in our community. In partnership with The Central Kitchen at Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD), we are growing delicious and nutritious greens for school salad bars across the district. With over 43,000 students in SCUSD receiving school lunches, there is a large demand for fresh, locally grown, organic salad greens. For the 68.6% of students who are receiving free or reduced lunches, having access to nutrient dense greens at school daily is vital to their health. For these under-served children, school meals are their only access to healthy, whole foods.

Complementing the increase of greens produced for student salad bars, our Greenhouse and Youth Education programs will support school gardens with over 3,000 organic salad greens and other vegetable plant starts produced at the American River Ranch. With your support, we will be able to increase the number of seedlings that are grown in our Greenhouse and planted in school gardens. Donations will go toward covering the cost of producing these seedlings so that schools can plant them in their gardens at no cost to them.

Our Roots & Wings Youth Education program hosts field trips on the farm. These hands-on learning experiences provide students the opportunity to connect the food they see on the salad bar at lunch to the environment it is grown. Students learn the process of growing food by participating in hands-on activities including planting, harvesting and tasting produce fresh from the fields. Students who have this type of exposure to whole foods are more likely to choose them from the salad bar at lunch. Your donations go toward scholarships for Title 1 schools so that children in under-served areas are able to attend field trips that their school does not have funding to participate in normally.

Our Train the Trainer program focuses on training current and future teachers best practices for gardening with students and implementing science based lessons in the garden. In 2023, we trained 172 teachers and student teachers and 9 college interns on garden management, maintenance and lessons. This important training program is a key component to creating more access to healthy foods for youth in our community. When teachers have the tools and knowledge to implement garden lessons and activities, they are more likely to use the school gardens as an outdoor classroom because they see the learning benefits of gardening and feel more comfortable teaching in that environment. College interns are trained to support teachers during garden classes. These future educators provide additional support for teachers with large classes so that every student has the opportunity to engage with the garden classroom in an impactful way. Students who spend more time learning in the garden are more likely to consume fresh fruits and vegetables when offered to them at school lunch.

Your Big Day of Giving donation will support increased food security for children in our community by providing funding that will be used to increase the following: the number of nutrient dense greens we are able to grow for Sacramento Unified School District, the number of seedlings we grow in our greenhouse for school gardens, the number of field trips provided to students in under-served communities and the number of educators trained to provide lessons at in school gardens. Thank you for your generous support of our organization and the community.