FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WFFT) – The Pick, Plant and Plate program is a part of a health initiative in the Summit City to combat childhood obesity through the hands-on practice of gardening, cooking, and eating at Johnnie Mae farm in Southeast Fort Wayne.
On a week-to-week basis, fifth to ninth grade students will get to get their hands dirty planting things like tomatoes, peppers and kale and basic cooking skills while also putting a recipe book together to take home.
“Sometimes just knowing how to cook a food is the barrier, but once you understand how you can slice up that fresh tomato and make a salad or you understand how to take that zucchini and make it crispy and delicious, it’s empowering, and it becomes a habit to look for that fresh food,”
This program will push the concept of urban farming.
“Even in neighborhood areas, people can get acclimated to farming… You can have a half-acre and grow a lot of your own food so that’s what we’re trying to teach to these kids and also take that food, bring it into the kitchen and cook it themselves,”
The program is free of charge for the kids and the plan is for it to run at least a year.
Funding was secured after the city received a $250,000 grant after Fort Wayne won the Childhood Obesity Prevention & Environmental Health & Sustainability Awards in January during the United States Conference of Mayors.
“Starting at a young age really sets that tone for them to be successful their whole life and really get ahead of that curve and live healthy lives and be successful long-term so that’s where it’s really important for us to get involved,”
Each week they will get to choose their activity; the program will start this summer.
The students will receive a $25 gift card every week that they attend to use at Pontiac Street Market to buy additional food to take home and show all of the things that they’ve learned during the program.
The first step is applying for the program through Engage Fort Wayne.
