GET STARTED: TRAININGS & SERVICES

Fertile Ground can help your school community to plan your school garden or composting program, and strategize to build partnerships with farmers, businesses, and community groups.

School gardens provide children with the ever rarer opportunities to:

1. Feel the power of growing their own food
   
   
2. Witness a seed growing into a flower or fruit
   
   
3. Link with their ancestors - learn about regional history and culture through learning different food traditions
   
   
4. Learn firsthand basic skills and concepts of math, science, language arts, social studies
   
   
5. Learn to work cooperatively
   
   
6. Meet new people - make unexpected connections with neighboring communities and farms.
   

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Fertile Ground offers fee for service training and consultation for teachers and school staff interested in initiating garden programs and developing Massachusetts State Frameworks-integrated curriculum through topics including farms, food, garden, nutrition, local food systems, cultural appreciation and social justice. We work in partnership with several regional organizations.

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Fertile Ground offers assistance with strategic planning, program building, and building volunteer networks. Fertile Ground designs programs to fit the needs of school communities including enlivening volunteer support, galvanizing funding, and building links with urban and rural communities through school gardens. We build small coalitions of community allies to increase access to fresh, local food.

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Become a Fertile Ground intern. College and graduate students interested in garden and farm education, social justice, organizational development, and event planning. (see contact us).

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Farm, Community and School Garden Programs

The Edible Schoolyard
http://www.edibleschoolyard.org/homepage.html

The Food Project
http://www.thefoodproject.org/

Growing Power
http://www.growingpower.org/

Good Grub
http://www.goodgrub.org/

Nuestras Raíces
http://www.nuestras-raices.org/

Red Gate Farm
http://www.redgatefarm.org/

Seeds of Solidarity
http://www.seedsofsolidarity.org/

Two Rivers Center/Food Works
http://www.tworiverscenter.org

U Mass Sustainability Programs
http://people.umass.edu/jgerber/

Vermont FEED (Food Education Every Day)
http://www.vtfeed.org/

Farm to School Advocates and Organizers

Center for Ecoliteracy
http://www.ecoliteracy.org/

Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture (CISA)
http://www.buylocalfood.com/

Mass Ag in the Classroom
http://www.aginclassroom.org/

Mass Farm to School Project
http://www.mass.gov/agr/markets/Farm_to_school/index.htm

National Farm to School Project
http://www.farmtoschool.org/

Northeast Organic Farm Association/MA (NOFA MA)
http://www.nofamass.org/index.php

Food Policy, Food Security, and Hunger

Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC)
http://www.foodsecurity.org/

Food Bank of Western Mass
http://www.foodbankwma.org/

National Priorities Project
http://www.nationalpriorities.org

Slow Food USA
http://www.slowfoodusa.org

World Hunger Year
http://www.worldhungeryear.org/

Dismantling Racism/Social Justice Curriculum and Trainings

Anti-Bias Lesson Plans
http://hastings.lexingtonma.org/Library/Yes/lessons.htm

BC Teacher's Foundation social justice learning resources
http://bctf.ca/SocialJustice.aspx?id=6270

Different and the Same (elementary school curriculum)
http://www.fci.org/viewproject.asp?ID={E5907525-B85F-4E91-8574- FF0649B388A0}

Facing the Future
http://www.facingthefuturedata.org/download.htm

Help Increase the Peace (HIPP)
http://www.afsc.org/hipp/

Learning to Give
http://www.learningtogive.org/lessons/index_page.asp

Multicultural Education Classroom Activities
http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/activityarch.html

People's Institute for Survival and Beyond
http://www.pisab.org/

Southern Poverty Law Foundation teaching tolerance
http://www.tolerance.org/teach/index.jsp

Understanding Prejudice
http://www.understandingprejudice.org/

Seeds

Fedco
http://www.fedcoseeds.com/

Johnny's Seeds
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/

Native Seed Search
http://www.nativeseeds.org/v2/default.php

Seed Savers Exchange
http://www.seedsavers.org/

Other Great Links

Green Earth Office Supply
http://www.greenearthofficesupply.stores.yahoo.net/

Manda Farm
http://www.mandafarm.com/

Chef's Collaborative
http://www.chefscollaborative.org

Small farmers' rights
http://www.viacampesina.org

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