Sonnie Heath, left, and Kallie Anderson with FoodCorps Service Member Christine Gall at their community farm stand in Liberty.
Fifth graders Kallie Anderson and Sonnie Heath know that they “feel more energetic, strong and fit” when they eat more vegetables and fruits. So when they learned as part of a school service learning project at Walker Elementary School in Liberty that there was a need in their community for affordable fresh vegetables, they decided to do something about it.
With the help of FoodCorps Service Member Christine Gall, called “Miss Christine” by the girls, Kallie and Sonnie planted vegetables and herbs in the school’s greenhouse early in the spring.
The girls wanted their community to be healthy and wanted others to experience the benefits of eating at least five servings of fruits and vegetables every day. It was a message they had learned in their school, a registered “Let’s Go! Waldo”
site, which promotes the 5-2-1-0 message with the 5 for eating five or more servings of fruits and veggies daily.
Kallie and Sonnie were also part of the five-week Walker Elementary Garden Summer Camp where campers grew vegetables and herbs, took cooking classes, learned about nutrition and played active games.
Each camper also produced a cookbook in which they colored and recorded the recipe for each new snack or lunch they helped
create. Those recipes include the veggies and herbs from their greenhouse and raised bed gardens.
Kallie and Sonnie operated their farm stand in front of the school. There, they sold fresh vegetables on the “pay what you can” method to help provide nutritious food for their community.
While making money was not the girls’ objective, they were happy to raise $102, which will go back into the
school’s gardening projects.