Last month LEC Staff met with students from Jefferson Elementary and Dakota Meadows Middle School to start tomato and pepper seeds.  As part of our new Youth Gardening Initiative program called "Seed to Sauce," the students will follow the seeds from planting to harvesting, learning hands on about the importance of healthy food choices.

The seeds that the students planted have begun to sprout under the watchful eye of LEC staff and some well-placed grow lights.  In May the students will plant the seedlings at the Community Farm.

The Seed to Sauce program is in its pilot year.  Developed by LEC in collaboration with ISD77 educators its goal is to give students hands on experience throughout the entire growing process.  The integrated program incorporates all aspects of community food connection by having students start seeds in the spring, plant seedlings that they’ve started at the community garden and farm, harvest the produce they’ve cultivated, donate it to local food security programs, and also make their own food with the produce.

Using community agriculture as the focus, Seed to Sauce will empower youth by providing them with experiences in community service, stewardship, and experiential learning through direct experience with gardening, food systems, and nutrition.  A portion of the produce grown through the program will be donated directly to our food security partners, while another portion will go towards an end-of-season workshop on making sauce out of the vegetables grown with a community pizza and pasta gathering. Youth will also be able to take home produce to share with their families.