Sonoma County is an area with tremendous resources for harvesting, producing, preserving and investing in healthy food and sustainable farming. iGrow Sonoma is a website, with an accompanying blog, that lists numerous organization and businesses sharing ideas and cultivating relationships through networking events intended to support and encourage the communities to stay thriving.
There are also many local schools that support community gardens. The School Garden Network of Sonoma County is an organization that “supports and promotes sustainable garden and nutrition-based learning programs in Sonoma County schools, connects school communities with fresh, locally grown foods, and provides a forum for exchanging information and resources. We empower youth to embrace healthy eating habits and to develop respect for and stewardship of all living things.”
The mandate of the School Garden Network is “to teach students to enjoy growing, cooking and eating fresh produce. This will provide them with life-long knowledge that can help to protect them from the current epidemic of child obesity.
To bring the garden into the tightly scheduled school day, garden-based curriculum has been developed for most academic subjects, especially in elementary school. The most obvious connections are to science and nutrition, but gardens are also often used for teaching English, math, art and social science. In secondary school, a garden can be a laboratory for teaching environmental science, horticulture and culinary arts.”
Hip Chick Farms applauds the School Garden Network of Sonoma County for their invaluable role in assisting to promote healthy communities through education and programs designed to teach children the importance of nurturing and caring for the world around them.
The Evolution of Farmer Jane 