The MFF School Farm
During World War II, America faced a major food shortage. With nowhere to turn, our government asked our grandparents to plant vegetable gardens. Victory Gardens! 20 million joined the cause and grew over 40% of the nation's vegetables. Sad but true, this would be an impossibility in our day and age. We aim to change this! Your school, by closely working with our team throughout the year, can teach the art of growing food--building soil, planting and sowing, monthly tending, harvesting, cooking and food preservation. We believe a working knowledge of food production is the greatest earthly gift our Creator has bestowed upon us.
MFF has developed our first School Farm in partnership with Good Shepherd School of Tyler, Texas, a private school with a deep commitment to mentoring children in the wisdom of the ages. As one Good Shepherd teacher says, “We nourish the children's souls with rich food; we should also be doing it for their bodies." This is our desire at MFF, one that we can achieve in cooperation with schools using the necessary educational components..
The MFF School Farm model has 5 distinct educational goals:
1. Building healthy soil; We work hand in hand with the students, parents and teachers in building the School FarmPlots.
2. Sowing seed and planting; This aspect makes a lasting impression because its more than a seed in a cup, it becomes a bowl of soup!
3. Organic crop management; Insect identification, scheduled foliar spraying, feeding the soil, mulching and freeze protection.
4. Harvesting the crops; Students learn when and how to harvest the different crops at their peak ripeness.
5. Food preparation and preservation; we not only assist the schools
Our MFF School FarmPlots are not merely for demonstration. They provide much needed nutrition for the children. Working with many families over the years, we have discovered that children eat vegetables more readily and enthusiastically if they have had a hand in growing and harvesting. Since we are blessed in Texas to be able to grow an abundance of vegetables throughout the winter, the children grow, harvest and eat cool season crops. Fortunately these are also the most nutrient dense foods. Kids love a tasty bowl of soup on a cold winter day, and MFF crops provide the perfect vegetables for it!
Growing With You
We will be working with schools in the Tyler and Austin areas in 2016. Call today and discover how Micro Family Farms can start Growing With You!
All good things come with a price worth paying. We believe the MFF School Farm model is a win-win opportunity for the school, parents and students. While a financial investment is required for the MFF School Farm, it is not required of the school's funds or budget. We have developed a way for local businesses and sponsor families to financially participate in offsetting the cost for the school. We work with the schools to find companies in the community willing to back the initial investment for the construction of the School FarmPlots. Much of the labor costs are deferred by the participation of the students and volunteer parents. Sponsor families support the annual service fees required by Micro Family Farms. For example, if the MFF School Farm has 20 FarmPlots, the school administration accepts 20 sponsor families to participate whose children attend the school. Each sponsor family invests $1,500 annually per School FarmPlot. In turn each sponsor family gets to harvest all the warm season crops its FarmPlot produces during the summer months when school is out of session. When school begins the FarmPlots revert back to the all the children that attend school. In September the warm season crops are replanted with the cool season crops that will benefit the entire student body of 200 to 400 students depending on how often soup days are implemented. In this way 20 families with greater income can bless over 200 children as well as harvest the freshest summer tomatoes, cucumbers, beans and more. Through creativity and inspiration we can touch the lives of children who will benefit for a lifetime!