How k-12 schools can benefit from growing their own fruits and vegetables - Essay Example

l kids growing their own food). Unhealthy food habits observed among the students of K-12 schools seem to cause many serious issues to them and to the schools as well. These problems could be solved by promoting fruit and vegetable gardens in schools. K-12 schools can benefit from growing their own fruits and vegetables because it helps to keep their students healthy and fresh in order to produce better academic results and to inculcate social values in them. Health-related Benefits: Better nutritional food helps children to maintain good heath which is essential for their physical growth as well as to maintain mental readiness for the process of learning.

An encouragement to healthy eating habits has been given by the Welch's Harvest Grand program which is a joint effort by the National Gardening Association and The Welch's magazine. They provide opportunities for students to learn the importance of a balanced diet, the role of vegetables and fruits in their food habits; the students can also gain an understanding of what they eat and how the foods are cultivated. Fresh fruits and vegetables included in their diet made them healthy and brighter and as Holly Orians comments, "the food service only has to say 'This is from the garden' and the kids are lined up to get the veggies!

” (Welch's Harvest Grants Help Children Enjoy Benefits of Growing Fruits and Vegetables and Reap Rewards in the Classroom) Welch's observed the participation of parents, teachers and even other members of the communities who worked on the gardens, and the students showed immense interest in the foods of which they grew and harvested. K-12 schools are thus benefited by providing opportunities to their students to have food which is made up of their own hands in keeping them under good physical condition.

Academic benefits: The fruit and vegetable gardens of the school provide a 'learning by doing' experience to the children in the field of agriculture, which otherwise would have been only a verbal experience to them. The result of Welch’s program as Holly Orians states “we’ve seen improved science scores across the board and also students' reactions to the outdoors" (Welch's Harvest Grants Help Children Enjoy Benefits of Growing Fruits and Vegetables and Reap Rewards in the Classroom) was a great success and proved that the K-12 schools are benefited academically by the introduction of fruit and vegetable gardens in their premises.

Seventeen percent of the participant schools of the program reported a remarkable improvement in the test results of their students. The successful story of The Welch's Harvest Grand program thus proves the relevance and importance of the necessity of such activities to be carried out in primary and secondary schools in order to bring about desirable changes in the eating habits of the children so as to make them ready to learn and to produce better academic outputs. The story of Martin Luther King Junior Middle School of