School gardens were in the news this week as volunteers across the country worked to maintain the gardens and donate harvested produce to their communities. Here are five silver linings we spotted this week.
1. Weekly farmers market
A student-run garden at West Middle School in Lawrence, Kan., is continuing to provide free produce to the community throughout the pandemic. Students help host a weekly market where low-income community members are able to get produce harvested from the garden for free.
Read the full story at ljworld.com.
2. Reaching a meal milestone
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts has served its 50,000thmeal through its Community Meal Program, through which furloughed Blue Cross cafeteria staff prepare and distribute 1,000 meals each day to people experiencing food insecurity.
Read the full story at finance.yahoo.com.
3. Harvest your own produce
The garden at Wheeling Middle School in Wheeling, W.Va., is still going strong, even with students out of school due to COVID-19. Volunteers are allowing families to reserve a time to visit the garden and harvest some of its produce for free.
Read the full story at theintelligencer.net.
4. Bagging up meals
Volunteers in Olympia, Wash., bagged 7,400 meals in a single day for distribution to students at three local school districts.
Read the full story at theolympian.com.
5. Reviving the gardens
Local organizations in Atlanta have partnered to revive over 102 learning gardens left idle due to COVID-19. Local farmers will help run the gardens and harvested crops will be donated to the community. Students will also help with the gardens when they return to school.
Read the full story at 11alive.com.