Our Story

Grow It Know It (GIKI) supports farm to school programming in Clarke county and Barrow county schools by working in partnership with teachers who are engaged with school gardens.

• GIKI works on the ground with teachers and school nutrition staff through their 5 Americorps VISTAs, who are hired in partnership with the UGA Office of Service Learning to fight poverty in the community.
• These VISTAs work with teachers to engage students in leadership, sustainable agriculture, and family and consumer science activities while practicing valuable work-related skills.
• Throughout the school year, GIKI and the VISTAs help each school maintain a school garden, reduce cafeteria food waste through compost and food re-use, and provide fresh produce to the community through veggie stands and our Meals in the Middle program.
• During our Kitchen Garden Corps summer program, students work to maintain the school gardens, learn how to cook with fresh produce, and most importantly, eat all kinds of fresh fruits and vegetables.
• At the end of each week, students operate a donation-based “pop-up restaurant” where they prepare and serve a three-course meal to a seating of 30-50 adults.

 

This work is made possible through the partnership of UGArden, UGA Office of Service Learning, UGA Cooperative Extension, UGA Crop and Soil Science Department, Clarke County School District, and Barrow County School System.

It is also funded in part grant no. 2018-68010-27672 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture.