<body><div>Did you know there’s an organic farm-to-table dining experience here in Marblehead? The customers are fourth-to-eighth graders.At the Marblehead Community Charter Public School, students plant, nurture and harvest about 200 pounds of produce every year, which the school’s chefs then turn into nutritious lunches. In fact, about 30% of the food in lunches comes straight from the garden. Fourth-grade teacher Jenn Stoddard works with her students in the spring to plant zucchini, squash, tomatoes, peppers and even watermelons. They also plant flowers that attract pollinators.The garden is 57 feet long by 21 feet wide. While working there, students learn about soil, how things grow, nutrition and even measuring, Stoddard said. Most importantly, they learn where the food they eat comes from and how it gets to their table.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2R0RBz_0vjZHf8C00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2R0RBz_0vjZHf8C00" width="1215" height="911" ><figcaption>&nbsp;Jenn Stoddard’s students show off their pickings from Sept. 10. Slug: MCCPS chefs CAPTION: MCCPS chefs Hope Ward, left, and Danette Russo roast and freeze tomatoes picked from the garden and use them all school year. CURRENT PHOTOS / LEIGH BLANDER</figcaption></figure>Charter’s Food Services Director Dantette Russo tends to the garden every day during the summer so when the students come back in late August, it’s ready for harvest.“We come out at least once a week to pick and observe what’s going on with our pollinator friends,” Stoddard said, referring to the bees buzzing nearby. “The students are always excited to come out and discover.”On one Friday in September, students picked 30 pounds of tomatoes. Russo then used some of them to make a creamy soup. Russo’s kitchen partner, Hope Ward, bakes focaccia bread once a week, and the students enjoy roasted veggie sandwiches with mozzarella. Russo roasts “tons of tomatoes,” freezes them and uses them throughout the year in marinara, soups and pizza.Fourth-grader Maya Flaherty walked through the garden looking for ripe veggies, pulling back vines and being careful not to disturb any young plants.“There are so many things you can find here,” she said. “My favorite is the black or purple peppers.”Cora Amittay said she likes to “observe” when she visits the garden.“I’ve never seen a bee pollinate before now,” she said. “It’s cool to see it burrow under the petals.”Sam Laforme looks forward to the garden trips.“It’s a really nice place,” he said. “It’s very peaceful.”In addition to MCCPS lunches, Russo uses produce from the garden to stock Charter’s Food Pantry, which delivers food to students’ families and others in need around town.</div></body>

Mountain View, CA

NewsBreak

Charter students learn about science, nutrition while growing own lunches

Did you know there’s an organic farm-to-table dining experience here in Marblehead? The customers are fourth-to-eighth graders. At the Marblehead Community Charter Public School, students plant, nurture and harvest about 200 pounds of produce every year, which the school’s chefs then turn into nutritious lunches. In fact, about 30% of the food in lunches comes straight from the garden.