(Justmeans.com / CSR News) - Mmm mmm good.
It was indeed a good day for planting when Campbell’s came to Monroe Elementary School in Wyandotte.
The purpose of the visit was to kick off the soup company’s “Help Grow Your Soup” campaign.
Wyandotte was one of a handful of cities across the nation selected by Campbell’s to launch its new program to educate children on where their food comes from.
Campbell’s has partnered with FFA (formerly Future Farmers of America) to increase interest in urban farming throughout the nation.
Wyandotte’s Roosevelt High School, which offers one of only two horticultural training programs in Wayne County, is heavily involved with the FFA.
The program, under the direction of teacher Bob Johnson, has more than 200 students participating.
The Wyandotte district started the horticulture program in 1989 to encourage students to stay in school and to use science in a hands-on fashion.
Monroe school has had an active junior master gardener program since 2001.
In the “Help Grow Your Soup” program, 22 high school students are partnered with 38 elementary school students to mentor and instruct the younger children on the ins and outs of growing a vegetable garden.
As the gardens mature, a portion of the produce — including sweet peppers, carrots and tomatoes — will be sold and the proceeds will be reinvested into the program.
And the young gardeners, who got bright red “Help Grow Your Soup” T-shirts, also will be able to take some of the fresh vegetables home for their families to enjoy.
The educators and gardeners involved in the project hope the children will be better able to connect food production with food consumption. In other words, they’ll understand where the food they see at grocery stores or restaurants really comes from.
And they believe that children are more likely to eat more vegetables and fruit when they take an active role in growing it.
The students involved will be helped to prepare a written a video record of their gardens’ progress.
And when they return to school in the fall, they’ll get lessons on how to prepare the food they have grown.
Also, for the first time in its more-than-100-year history, Campbell’s is making available to community gardens — and for a limited time to the general public — its proprietary seeds for the tomatoes used to make Campbell’s famous tomato soup.
Now through June 21, consumers who purchase any variety of Campbell’s soup can enter the code on the can at www.HelpGrowYourSoup.com, and receive a free packet of the famous tomato seeds to try in their own gardens.
According to a survey conducted by the Garden Writers of America Foundation, 44 percent of households with a yard or garden plan to add or expand a vegetable garden this year.
This represents an increase of 12 percent over 2008.
The Help Grow Your Soup program aims to encourage folks who haven’t grown vegetables in the past to do so now and into the future.
By Paul Rodman
The News Herald
http://www.thenewsherald.com/articles/2009/06/03/life/doc4a23e48a03240397326603.txt
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