LOWELL – Lowell Public Schools has been awarded $30,000 in MA FRESH (Farming Reinforces Education and Student Health) grant funding from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Office for Food and Nutrition Programs.
The funding will be utilized at the Robinson Middle School and the Wang Middle School.
At the Robinson, the funding will benefit their partnership with Mill City Grows, who provides after-school programming in the 21st Century program throughout the year and will be working with students to plant, grow, and harvest crops in the school’s garden in the spring and summer.
The Wang will use the funding to refurbish their school gardens and greenhouse.
“Hands-on learning opportunities in our school gardens and with long-term partners like Mill City Grows are essential to the mission of Lowell Public Schools,” said Superintendent of Schools Liam Skinner. “These lessons and activities not only expose students to fruits and vegetables they may have not seen before but also encourage them to think about where food comes from, learn skills so they can grow their own food, and maybe even try something new!”
This third round of the state-funded, competitive MA FRESH grants has awarded $1.2 million to 24 school districts and 10 early education and care programs across the Commonwealth to support local food and local food education in schools.
This year’s MA FRESH projects were made possible with food literacy funding in the Massachusetts state budget. This funding enables schools and early education sites to purchase and prepare more locally grown Massachusetts food, invest in farm-to-school efforts, and provide students with experiential learning opportunities inside and outside the classroom.
“We are delighted to see a diversity of programs and communities receive funding to further food education opportunities, enhance school meals highlighting local foods, and establish food literacy programs in schools. We are thankful for our Massachusetts Legislators and the Healey-Driscoll Administration for making these funds available to schools and childcare centers across the Commonwealth to do this important work,” said Simca Horwitz, Co-Director of Massachusetts Farm to School. “We see emerging and vibrant educational and meal programs tapping into this innovative funding to support the kind of farm to school programming we envision for every community in the Commonwealth.”
Advocates are still working to establish a permanent farm to school MA FRESH Grant program in Massachusetts.
The goal is to provide ongoing support for the infrastructure investments, staff training, and educational initiatives that lead to farm to school program success and sustainability.
