On August 25, we will begin the fifth year of the Children’s Nutrition Program at the Santa Fe Farmers Market. This will be an 11-week series that brings 22 classes of elementary school children to the fall Tuesday markets. The program seeks to educate and motivate children around healthy eating. They learn about and taste a variety of fruits and vegetables. We target public schools with a “Free and Reduced Lunch” population of at least 75%.
The children come in buses, two classes at a time. Each session at the Farmers’ Market takes about an hour and a half, so the classes alternate between two sites. While one class is doing the Children’s Nutrition Program at the Market, the other class is at the Railyard Park across the street. The Railyard Stewards have an educational program where students learn about the history of the Santa Fe Rail Road and the traditional agriculture of the area, including a tour of a community garden. Children bring sack lunches and eat in the park after the morning classes. After lunch, they participate in a tour and art education program at SITE Santa Fe.
We curtain off an education area at one end of the market hall for the classes. A farmer gives the children a brief presentation on farm life and how their food is grown. Volunteer teachers prepare lesson plans and conduct the classes where the children taste fruits and vegetables and then use language skills to describe and record their experience. After the class, the children are given two $1 market tokens to tour the market and buy samples of fruits and vegetables that they can take home to their families. This year we will work with Sweeney, a south-side elementary school.