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They also do an in-class pro-
gram in the winter at Beeman
school that focuses on the science
of growing. Discussions about the
interconnectedness of the food
web are part of the program. "We
are always thinking about ways to
provide children with notions of
systems—of how one thing leads to
the next thing," says Lepionka.
Getting kids tasting and trying
new vegetables is the goal. Toward
that end, Backyard Growers part-
ners with the Food Service Depart-
ment and the schools' kitchen staff,
who help prepare and serve special
tastings for the students. If they
try the food, they get an "I Tried
It" sticker. They also have stickers
for the kids to use to demonstrate
whether or not they liked what they
tried. In this way, they learn if kids
are trying things and what they
think about it. "It's so effective,"
notes Stratton. "If you put it to them
with a little bit of fanfare, then they
all love it."
Long-term plans include growing
the staff to have more support for
direct services. They would also like
to start urban gardening in partner-
ship with the city "to really deepen
and strengthen this work in the
community so it becomes a change
in culture around food production,"
explains Lepionka. Though physi-
cally based in Gloucester, they have
created replicable models that they
share with people outside the city—
the Schoolyard Garden Program
being the prime example.
"We always refer to ourselves
as scrappy because we are inter-
ested in creating systems that are
efficient, lean, and effective," says
Lepionka, who is known to be very
savvy with resources. "We take
them and churn them into high-im-
pact programs with huge numbers
of people served."
CO N TAC T
backyardgrowers.org
Home-based food
production provides
valuable lessons
for residents and
students alike.
