Food activist Gary Cuneen cultivates nutritional awareness in urban middle schools
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Fresh from the Farm, a farm-to-school program administered by Seven Generations Ahead, is teaching students about farming, gardening and gives them tips on making better eating choices.
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“What does your family like to have for dinner?” asks Melissa Tobias, an instructor for Fresh from the Farm’s summer program at Ames Middle School in Logan Square. Without hesitation, the teens’ answers ranged from Popeye’s to McDonald’s to pizza.
An estimated 633,000 Chicagoans live in “food deserts,” a term experts give to a densely populated area with limited access to grocery stores and healthy food options. Residents in these areas have to travel nearly twice as far to get to a grocery store than to a fast food restaurant. Lack of fresh, affordable fruits and vegetables in urban neighborhoods has been linked to high rates of childhood obesity and diabetes in low-income families.
Fresh from the Farm, a farm-to-school program administered by Seven Generations Ahead (SGA), is combating this trend by introducing urban kids to gardening, farming, ecology and nutritious food choices. Fresh from the Farm recently wrapped a seven-week summer program at Ames Middle School in Logan Square. The kids met three times a week for hands-on instruction.
Founded in 2001, SGA strives to find local solutions to global environmental problems. SGA’s Fresh from the Farm program is a resource for school districts looking to incorporate nutrition curriculums, healthier lunches and locally raised food into school menu offerings.
“In a community starving for healthier food choices, our goal is to teach students to value the importance of food and how it affects our bodies, and to motivate them to make healthy lifestyle choices in their daily lives,” says Gary Cuneen, food activist and founder of Oak Park-based SGA. “The Fresh from the Farm lessons give students the tools they need to plan and prepare well-balanced meals and snacks, regardless of where they live.”
Five gallon buckets, colorfully painted by the students, serve as an urban garden in
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