Students Learn To Cook, Grow Food Used In Recipes
DENVER (CBS4)- A program at a Denver Public School is a hit with kids and their parents. Marie L. Greenwood Academy has a Cooking from the Garden class for their Each One Teach One program.
It's all thanks to a grant from Whole Foods to their community partner, Slow Food USA, after school on Wednesdays.
"The hands on in the garden is a significant contributor toward long term retention," says Mary Anne Bash, the program's director.
Students cook in the classroom first and then plant the crops of the foods they just ate.
So when students harvest when they return in August, they'll know how to prepare healthy dishes from the garden bounty.
The school is located in what's considered a "food desert," a place with little access to fresh produce.
Once students know how to grow the food, they can take that home with them.
"Growing your own food is like printing your own money. You take one miniscule tomato seed and you can produce 50 cherry tomatoes," Bash told CBS4.
Students are also assigned books to read about food. Edwin Benton says it's teaching him skills he can use in the future.
"If you don't know how to cook and you're a parent that's going to be bad news because how are you going to feed your family," he told CBS4.
The program not only teaches subjects like biology, botany, and horticulture, but life long lessons.
"The socialization of kids, good manners, respect for others, and passions. That's what we do."
Dominic Garcia anchors CBS4 News at 5 p.m. and reports for CBS4 News at 10 p.m. Connect with the Denver native on Twitter @cbs4dom & on Facebook.