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Schools

From Waste to Plate at Meadowbrook Elementary School

Golden Valley students are gardening through Hennepin County's Organics Recycling Program.

More than two dozen young gardeners, along with some school officials, got their hands dirty Tuesday morning at  as part of a project seven years in the making.

Organic waste including food scraps and non-recyclable paper collected in the fall provided the compost for the school’s garden. Students and staff planted a plethora of vegetable seeds—beets, onions, carrots, cucumbers, celery, broccoli and zucchini.

Louise Miller, who started the eco-friendly initiative, wanted to "close the loop" from waste to plate, "so kids could really understand what the purpose of the program was in the cafeteria.” Public schools in eight districts are participating in Hennepin County's Organics Recycling Program.

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“This is meant to show kids that they can recycle food, make it into dirt, bring it back to the school, grow more food and have it keep going and going," she said. "For me, that was really important to see that connection, and that’s why I’m so excited that our project gardens have really taken off over the years.”

Principal Greta Evans-Becker and second-grade teacher Mr. Kevin Davis participated with Miller and the 28 students.

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Tuesday is just the beginning of the planting project. Though school will be out soon, many volunteers and students will spend parts of their summer maintaining the gardens to ensure a fruitful harvest in the coming months.

“We’ve found in the last couple of years that kids seem much more interested in eating nutritious food and good foods when they have a connection from knowing where it came from," Miller said, "and have a direct involvement in growing it.”

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