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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Liz Wiley, Executive Director
marketing@marioninstitute.org
(508) 748-0816
Website: marioninstitute.org
Learning Grows All Year: Marion Institute’s Grow Education Program Brings Farm-to-School Learning Indoors This Winter
Planting Knowledge. Cultivating Community.
When school gardens settle in for winter, learning doesn’t stop—it simply moves indoors. Through the Marion Institute’s Grow Education Farm-to-School Program, students across Southeastern Massachusetts continue building food literacy, curiosity, and confidence all winter long through hands-on lessons, taste tests, virtual field trips, and advocacy.
“Winter is a powerful time for students to slow down, reflect, and really understand how food systems work,” said Nate Sander, Grow Education Program Manager. “By bringing farm-based learning into classrooms, we’re helping students connect seeds, soil, food, and community—even when gardens are resting.”
Indoor Learning That Starts with the Soil
Throughout the winter months, students explore soil health, composting, seed saving, and food waste, learning how healthy soil supports everything that grows. Lessons are designed to be age-appropriate and empowering, helping students understand how nutrients cycle through food systems and how everyday choices—like what happens in their cafeterias—connect to the health of their community and environment.
“These conversations are about awareness, not blame,” said Sander. “Students begin to see themselves as caretakers of the system and part of the solution.”
Virtual Field Trips: Bringing the Farm Inside
Even when fields are frozen, students stay connected to agriculture through Grow Education’s virtual field trips that introduce topics such as:
· Bees and pollination
· Herbalism
· Composting and food waste
· Regenerative farming
· Seeds and seed saving
Students watch short films, learn new vocabulary, and engage in hands-on activities like exploring a demo beehive—no bees required—building science skills while keeping learning engaging and fun.
Taste Tests: Learning Through the Senses
Winter is also prime time for taste tests, helping students connect learning to real food through a full-circle journey from seed to table. This season, students:
· Participated in an apple taste test featuring apples from a local orchard, comparing texture, flavor, and variety.
· Enjoyed a popped corn taste test tied directly to seed-saving lessons, learning that popcorn kernels are seeds.
· Seasoned popcorn with garlic grown in their school garden and coriander made from cilantro they had grown themselves, reinforcing the connection between growing, harvesting, and eating.
· Students in all New Bedford schools participated in a three sisters stew taste test that reinforced lessons on the Wamponoag agricultural traditions of companion planting corn, beans, and squash and third graders even visited Plimoth Patuxet, connecting history, culture, and food in an immersive and experiential experience.
· Tasted local raw honey while learning about bees, pollination, and their essential role in food systems.
“Food literacy becomes real when students can see it, touch it, and taste it,” said Liz Wiley, Executive Director of the Marion Institute. “These hands-on experiences help students build confidence around food while understanding how culture, ecology, and health are all connected.”
Growing Voices: Advocacy in Action
Food literacy also means understanding how systems and policies shape access to healthy food. This winter, students had opportunities to use their voices by sharing what they love about their farm-to-school experiences and why food literacy matters to them.
As state food literacy and farm-to-school legislation is reviewed in early February, these student voices are especially timely. By speaking directly with school leaders and lawmakers, students are learning that their experiences matter and that civic engagement can help shape healthier communities.
At Rochester Memorial School, third-grade students shared their experiences at a school committee meeting, saying:
“Once a month, Farmer Nate comes in and works with our classrooms on taking care of the garden beds and learning about farm education. We harvested potatoes, learned about garlic, pollinators, and tasted local honey. We have loved our experience so far, and we look forward to our monthly visits.”
Learning Through Winter, Growing into Spring
Through indoor lessons, virtual field trips, taste tests, and advocacy, Grow Education keeps curiosity growing all winter long. When spring arrives and gardens wake up again, students return outside with deeper knowledge, stronger connections, and a clearer understanding of how food, land, and community are connected.
“Learning doesn’t pause for the season,” Wiley added. “Through our Grow Education program, it grows year-round.”
About the Marion Institute
The Marion Institute’s mission is to advance a culture of health. We exist to engage individuals and communities in systems level solutions at the intersection of food, personal wellness, and the environment. We seek an equitable, informed society where people work in community to heal themselves and the planet. To learn more, visit: marioninstitute.org.
About Grow Education Farm-to-School Program:
Grow Education is the Marion Institute’s farm-to-school program that partners with public schools to build school gardens, promote food literacy, and connect students to healthy, local food. By integrating hands-on learning with curriculum, Grow Education helps students understand where their food comes from, why it matters, and how it connects to their health, community, and environment. The program currently operates across all elementary schools in New Bedford (18), Westport (2), Wareham (1) Marion (1) Mattapoisett (1) and Rochester (1).
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