Farm-to-fork: Good Life Gardens in Zambia

Our schools' Good Life Gardens are front and center of the "farm-to-fork" movement!  "Farm-to-fork"  supports a direct route for food from the grower to the fork. HealthEd Connect's community health workers pluck luscious leafy greens, onions, and tomatoes from the garden plot right beside the cookshack where they make school lunches. It doesn't get much more "direct" than that!  These are the only vegetables many of these orphans and vulnerable children will receive, and they provide necessary nutrients for healthy growth and development. Furthermore, teachers use the gardens as a learning tool, and as the children care for the gardens they learn practical farming skills and scientific concepts. 

So much goodness from a simple tire garden!

Note for curious gardeners: These recycled tires attract sunlight and warmth directly to the roots of the vegetables, resulting in rapid growth and an extended growing season. They also provide excellent drainage in the heavy clay soil of Zambia, and encourage more rapid decomposition of fertilizers. Last but definitely not least, they reduce the amount of weeds and deter some destructive bugs.