By Scout Nelson
Since the 1990s, the Living Earth Center has been dedicated to educating the Mankato community about food cultivation and preparation, with a particular focus on involving young people in these processes. As Laura Marsala Peterson notes, “We’ve known for a long time that when a child grows their own food, they’re more apt to actually be eating that food.”
The organization’s mission centers on engaging youth by getting them outdoors and active in community growing spaces. Recently, this mission was furthered through the introduction of the Seed to Sauce program. “We kind of had this idea of how cool it would be if we were able to engage kids in this process of planting food from seeds - so they plant the seed, and then get to be a part of its life cycle,” explained Cora Uyigue.
While the program has garnered significant interest, funding was a challenge—until now. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture has awarded the Living Earth Center a multi-year grant, enabling them to continue and expand their efforts. “The grant is to get urban and semi-urban youth involved in community agriculture, basically community programs,” said Peterson.
This year alone, 1,000 children have participated in the center’s programming. With the new funding, the organization is excited about the future. Uyigue expressed her hopes, stating, “I’m hoping to see more youth getting involved, even more field trips out to the community farm so kids see where their seed is being planted and how their stewardship is impacting communities.”
This grant marks a significant step forward for the Living Earth Center, ensuring that their educational and agricultural initiatives can continue to thrive and reach even more young people in the coming years.
Photo Credit:minnesota-department-of-agriculture
Categories: Minnesota, Education, General, Government & Policy, Harvesting