Last Friday, with wild smiles and a big hugs the urban farm received a huge visit from more than a hundred angels coming from the YMCA Base Camp for Culinary Science Week! During this visit the kids marked the last activity of the camp and the end of their summer but for some of us at VGI it was a first time we experienced welcoming that many kids on the same day. Despite the weather, the kids were happy and energetic and very accepting as they participated in each activity. We divided the kids up into three groups: interacting and learning about the compost, its process and importance to the farm; a tour around the farm while trying to identify and taste different vegetables, fruits, and herbs; and last but not least, cooking and eating spring rolls using the maximum of vegetables they have courage to taste! Some kids were really surprised after tasting some of the vegetables–they thought they would hate it but ended up loving the combinations.
This experience gave the kids the opportunity to compare fresh, organic food and learn about the life cycle by physically being on top of the compost and realizing the bacterial activity within it by feeling the temperature difference between the surface and the inside of the compost. The kids left the farm with huge smiles and a taste of farm life.
When’s the next field trip you, may ask? We don’t know but what we can say is that we enjoyed this one as much as the kids did gauging by their reactions while trying and tasting their veggies.
by Rokia, IREX Fellow
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Looking for more information about Victory Garden Initiative’s Field Trips? Click here.