Teachers:

About Farmer in the Classroom -

"A superb program! In my 20 years of teaching I have had few presenters / programs this informative and positive!"
- 4th grade teacher
Muir Elementary

"This was really wonderful…the students learned about farming, food production, local farmers, organic farming and economics. It would be great to expand. It fits in well with our 3rd grade social studies on communities and economics. I would love to continue to be involved. Thank you so much!"
- 3rd grade teacher
Leopold Elementary

"Wonderful job. Very age-appropriate presentations. Good hands-on participation really engaged the children. They loved it."
- 1st grade teacher
Muir Elementary

"Students learned new vocabulary, how things grow from seeds, vegetable plant parts, and a great deal of background knowledge about farms. Presentation was packed with info and sharing. A superb opportunity for 1st graders!
- 1st grade teacher
Lapham Elementary

"The Wisconsin Homegrown Lunch classroom presentations have been great! It's the schools and community coming together to educate our children."
- 2nd grade teacher
Leopold Elementary

About the Tasting Day -

"I know my students are learning when they are retelling and using information from this presentation to enrich our discussions."
- 1st grade teacher
Chavez Elementary

"The students learned about the wide variety apples grown in Wisconsin and the importance of agriculture in their lives. The tasting was a wonderful way to build language-specifically adjective vocabulary. Thank you for the motivating and educational program!"
- 3rd grade teacher
Glendale Elementary

"Students were exposed to vegetables they may never see or learn about! Great job!
- K/1 teacher
Emerson Elementary

Students learned why we need farmers and what work they do. They tried new things and found that there maybe an unusual variety that one likes! Fantastic!
- K/1 teacher
Gompers Elementary

Students:

"Thank you for coming in. It was interesting. Thanks for showing us all the things you did. Thanks for letting us touch, smell, and taste the fruits and vegetables. It was exquisite!
- 2nd grader
Shorewood Elementary

"Thank you for coming in to our classroom. I never knew that cabbage liked cold weather. That is cool that you are an organic farmer. I really enjoyed the game. I didn't even know that a leek was a vegetable."
- 4th grader
Schenk Elementary

"Your tomatoes were delicious! I liked the Green Zebra tomato. I never knew I liked tomatoes that much. Have you ever heard of cherry tomatoes? My neighbor grows them."
- 5th grader
Lincoln Elementary

"Thank you for coming to our school. I liked the grape tomato the best. It tasted sweet. Before you came I didn't like tomatoes but now I do! I never knew tomatoes were yellow and orange. I just thought they were red.
- 3rd grader
Hawthorne Elementary

Farmers:

"The kids were actively focused and engaged in what I was saying and in the activities they participated in. They had great questions. I would leave each classroom presentation with renewed energy and affirmation that what I am doing (organic vegetable farming) is incredibly important. Let's keep teaching young people, they are the next generation and need this information."
- Barb Perkins
Vermont Valley Community Farm

"One word I would use to describe my experience in the schools is: Inspiring. I knew young people were very smart, but these kids blew me away! Kindergartners explaining to me how bees pollinate flowering plants, 1st graders describing how earthworms help the soil, and fourth graders having in-depth conversations about our industrial food system and the transportation involved in getting food to our grocery stores. Very, very sharp! There is much hope for this world if we can help these young people to keep exercising their brains.

"I knew they would try the carrot sticks I brought in, but who would have
guessed that 2nd graders would eat raw celeriac or golden beets? And LIKE
them! I'm inspired by their enthusiasm and willingness to try new things."
- Doug Wubben
Drumlin Farm

Tasting Day volunteers:

I was impressed by the willingness of young children to try new foods, the enthusiasm as they described their tasting experience, and the classroom curriculum, in many cases, that had prepared them for this opportunity. Many of the children asked me if I were the farmer, indicating their strong interest in connecting with the source of the delicious local and seasonal produce that the Farm-to-School project presented to them.
- Niki McGlathery

Wisconsin Homegrown Lunch
A joint project of the REAP Food Group and
the University of Wisconsin's Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems

Contact Doug Wubben, project coordinator, at dwubben@wisc.edu

http://www.reapfoodgroup.org/farmtoschool
Web site designed and maintained by Lori Compas
at the UW Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems
Updated February 3, 2008