Dear Friends,

I write to you today to ask your help.

Obesity rates in children and adolescents have tripled over the last two decades. One in five young people is obese and one in three is overweight, leading the New England Journal of Medicine to conclude that this may be the first generation of children who live shorter lives than their parents.

As a board member for The Education Fund, a non-profit organization that unites the entire community in improving the Miami-Dade County schools, I’ve watched an exciting program evolve over the last two years that draws upon national research on how to improve the lifestyles and eating habits of at-risk elementary-school students. Through The Education Fund’s Plant a Thousand Gardens Collaborative Nutrition Initiative (CNI for short) teachers and their students plant, maintain, and harvest vegetable and herb gardens, while at the same time integrating nutrition lessons into almost every subject.

With the help of The Education Fund’s program, students are so excited to get out of the classroom and get their hands dirty that they scarcely realize they are learning. It’s the first time they have plucked a plump tomato from a vine and tasted vegetables not in a can. They’re reading books about vegetables, learning science by analyzing whether foods have starches, and always caring about the vegetables THEY’VE grown. And their parents are helping in the garden and attending cooking workshops.

As nutrition investigators, students learn about vitamins and minerals, they read nutrition labels, they even know terms that you and I can barely pronounce. They become meticulous critics, more often than not, assuming the role of nutrition advocate for their families—driving their parents crazy at dinnertime, and maybe adding years to their families’ lives.

This hands-on strategy has shown amazing results – surveys showed an 80% increase in children who reported eating vegetables with a meal, plus a 50% decrease in those eating unhealthy foods like candy and ice cream. And, 88% of parents reported they were preparing more healthy food between the start and end of year one. Teachers also reported a noticeable increase in attendance and academic achievement.

CNI’s approach is cost-effective and easily accessible. The program has been lauded by the district, and adopted into the district’s recommended curriculum.

Unfortunately, with $700 million slashed from this year’s school district budget, there is simply no funding for even inexpensive items such as soil, plants and other items needed to establish CNI at a school. Yet, a garden costs so little it is a shame to keep students in the classroom when their interest in learning could be blooming in the garden.

Thus, I write to you today to ask you to support The Education Fund through this easy-to-use donor page, so we may realize our objective of planting an edible vegetable garden in every school yard.

Whether you can give $5, $50, or $500, your contribution can plant a seed that will make a profound difference in the lives of children and families across our community. For more information on The Education Fund, visit www.educationfund.org.

Thanks in advance for your support.

Lucy Petrey