In the summer of 2024, MEVO was awarded a competitive USDA Patrick Leahy Farm to School grant on a two-year implementation grant. Through this grant we are partnering closely with the Mahwah NJ School district to build out and maintain three elementary school gardens. In these gardens we have implemented an intensive growing plan in order provide the district’s cafeterias with abundant produce to be used in student lunches. Each year of this grant program, third graders will have the opportunity to visit the school gardens multiple times per year to see what is growing, understand different plant families, and learn the basics of our local food system. In addition, one time per grant year, we will conduct taste tests in the elementary school cafeterias to give students a tasty touchpoint to unique produce preparations.

Each year of the grant program, in the fall, all Mahwah third garders will come to our Fresh Roots Farm in Mahwah to cycle through learning stations on composting, pollinators, what plants needs to grow and the different parts of a plant, and seeds and how they travel. In addtion, we will run a high school summer internship crew in the summer of 2025 where we will steward a group of eight rising seniors through a summer of in garden and on farm education.