As part of our Whole Kids Foundation family, you join more than 8,000 garden programs in the US, UK, and Canada that are growing healthy kids! You can download a digital version of your garden resource guide here.
Further inspire your kiddos to start healthy eating conversations with books and activities!
The typical elementary student receives just 3.4 hours of nutrition education each year — something needs to change!
Slow Food USA, in partnership with Whole Kids Foundation, has developed a toolkit to help school district food services safely bring school garden produce onto the lunch line!
Give kids good choices, and they’ll make good choices!
The Get Schools Cooking Grant is intended to support U.S public school districts who are eager to transform their school lunch programs from processed foods to scratch-cooked meals.
The Bee Grant program allows for a K–12 school or non-profit organization to receive support for an educational bee hive.
Our Healthy Teachers Program empowers educators to improve their personal health and wellness.
We’re fueling change in Canadian schools by getting healthy, local, sustainable food on the plates and minds of students.
We believe in research-driven programs to create effective, lasting and impactful change. See below for a sampling of research that supports our programs – and can support yours, too!
Garden programs that are incorporated into educational programming solidify kids’ learning, further influencing their lifelong healthy eating choices!
DIVERSIFYING FUNDING SOURCES FOR YOUR GARDEN CAN BE A KEY FACTOR IN SUCCESS. HERE ARE A HANDFUL OF GRANTS TO SUPPORT DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF YOUR PROGRAM!
Additional grants can support different aspects of your program!
Use the easy-to-use CrowdRise funding platform to raise funds for your garden.
Apply to host a fundraiser at your local Chipotle and receive 33% of proceeds to support your garden.
Select from a couple of options to sell eco-friendly products at a discounted cost to support your school
Sell sustainable local products through an online fundraising platform.
Sell seeds at a 50% profit for your school.
Recycle your natural care products and earn TerraCycle points that can be redeemed for prizes.
Expand your garden knowledge, learn best practices for growing with kids, and connect with other inspiring educators like you at these regular garden conferences:
The Edible Schoolyard Project offers various trainings and resources on principles and practical tools for engaging students in lessons in the kitchen, garden, and cafeteria. Either virtually or in person at their flagship kitchen garden program at MLK Jr Middle School in Berkeley, CA, the Edible Schoolyard also offers an annual summer training.
Head to Life Lab’s Garden Classroom in Santa Cruz, CA or have a Life Lab trainer come to your school or organization to strengthen your garden-based education.
The American Horticultural Society hosts an annual symposium, typically held in the summer, to focus on the success and future of school gardens.
Hosted by the National Farm to School network, this conference brings together many different stakeholders from across the country and is an opportunity to learn from, network, and collaborate with like-minded leaders of the farm to cafeteria movement. This conference is typically held every other year.
A national event bringing together those who build, operate, and teach in green and sustainable schools.
Children & Nature Network seeks to bring together best practices for increasing equitable access to nature for children, families and communities through their many resources – from free toolkits and reports to infographics and advocacy tools. They also offer guest speaker presentations and webinars and holder interactive events such as their Network Conference, held every other year.
Hosted by Life Lab and the School Garden Support Organization Network, the Leadership Institute brings together school garden professional from across the country, providing and opportunity to collaborate, learn from one another, and develop resources to be shared with a national audience. Designed for School Garden Support Organization leaders but is also relevant individual school garden practitioners.
It takes a village to support a garden...and enjoy it! Your community has a whole host of skills and passions that could grow and maintain your garden. Check out the following tips and resources to invite them in and share your story.
From community garden builds to community potlucks, there are a lot of ways to bring people into the space.
Explore the binder for additional information.
Use the templates below to reach out to local media and bloggers in your community.
Social media is a great place to showcase the garden's progress.
Example of Successful Media Outreach
Example of Successful Media Outreach
Stay up to date on our grant programs and how our favorite schools and organizations are doing!
Stay up to date on our grant programs and how our favorite schools and organizations are doing!
