As Mineola ISD students head back to class, some of their lessons may begin in the garden and eventually make their way to the cafeteria table.
Promise of Peace at Sunshine Acres is expanding its work with Mineola ISD this school year, with plans to involve middle school students, FFA members and school nutrition staff in a farm-to-table program connecting students with the food they eat.
One of the first projects will center on approximately 150 pounds of potatoes grown and cured at Sunshine Acres, according to Elizabeth Dry of Promise of Peace. Middle school students are expected to visit the farm, collect the potatoes and help deliver them to the school cafeteria, where Dry said they will become part of a scratch-made dish.
For Dry, a longtime educator, the project goes beyond supplying vegetables.
“The most important component of farm to school, in my mind as an educator, is for those children to come and see where their food is growing,” Dry said.
When students later see those same foods on their cafeteria trays, she said, they will have a personal connection to the meal.
“They’re going to have conversations. They’re going to have pride. They’re going to have expertise,” Dry said. “They’re going to have desires to maybe grow some at home, or come back to the farm and harvest them next season.”
Promise of Peace also plans to work with Mineola ISD’s nutrition program to determine which crops can best complement school menus. Over the past year and a half, Dry said, Sunshine Acres has learned which crops perform best on the property and how much the farm can realistically produce.
Now, rows are being planned with cafeteria use in mind.
Swiss chard, for example, could be highlighted during October, with school nutrition staff potentially developing a meal that incorporates the crop. Herbs grown at the farm could also add fresh ingredients to school dishes.
“We want to collaborate and find out what works for them, what do they want and serve their needs so that it eventually gets to the plates of our children,” Dry said.
Mineola High School’s FFA program is expected to have a role in the partnership as well. Dry said agriculture science and FFA teacher Robert Reynolds will help connect students with hands-on work at the farm.
There, students could see concepts they learn in the classroom put into practice, from propagation and planting to harvesting.
Sunshine Acres has increased production of some crops by learning propagation techniques involving plants such as Swiss chard and strawberries, Dry said.
“These are all skills that FFA students learn, and they can see it in real life on the farm, and then also harvest it and have some of it for their plates,” she said.
Middle school students will have another way to get involved through an after-school garden club being developed with a Mineola Middle School teacher.
Students in the club are also expected to participate in Promise of Peace’s “Soup It Forward” initiative. Each month, students would take home a meal kit featuring seasonal ingredients, recipes and a family cooking guide.
The kits are intended to extend lessons from the garden into students’ homes by teaching them how to prepare seasonal foods and share a meal with their families.
“These kids will not only be learning the curriculum around the garden, but they’ll be taking home a monthly Soup It Forward meal kit to learn the seasonal ingredients and then how to prepare the seasonal ingredients for their families,” she said.
Families are encouraged to prepare and eat the meal together, then “soup it forward” by sharing food or an act of kindness with someone else.
The garden also serves as an outdoor classroom.
Students visiting Sunshine Acres begin by walking the property and assessing what is happening with the plants. They might determine whether something needs pruning, identify a potential pest problem or decide what work needs to be completed that day.
Those decisions call on many of the same problem-solving, observation, reading and math skills students use at school.
“It’s off the phone. It’s off their screen, so they’re learning thought processes and problem solving and inferencing,” she said.
Meanwhile, Sunshine Acres is preparing for the coming season. Fall seedlings, including cauliflower, broccoli and cabbage, have been started, with additional planting planned as temperatures allow.
The long-term goal, Dry said, is to build a continuous partnership rather than a one-time school project, with students participating throughout the growing year.
She believes Mineola has an opportunity to show what can happen when schools, agriculture and the broader community work together.
“I feel like Mineola ISD has so many positive innovations happening,” Dry said. “The farm will be an important component of that, and there’s just lots to celebrate.”
For Dry, teaching students to grow food is ultimately about giving them knowledge they can carry beyond the school year.
“Growing your own food is probably one of the most luxurious freedoms we have,” she said. “I want people to know about it, experience it and choose it if they want it.”