As I stand in front of a class reiterating the importance of eating 5 servings of fruits and veggies every day, this information seems to go in one ear and out the other, and who can blame the students? Not only are they are bombarded with advertising and enticing, colorful packaging in the grocery store, but where they live, their ethnicity, language barriers, economic status, etc. all impact what kind of access they have to resources and affordable healthy food. Not to mention, there are so many misconceptions about what it means to eat healthy, which makes choices confusing and overwhelming, and some families don’t have any choices at all.

At my host site YMCA Duval County, I show kids how to grow food. However, if you had asked me to teach kids about gardening a year ago, I would have laughed and insisted that I didn’t have a green thumb! To prepare for the transition into my new expected role, I practiced growing a sunflower for my former AmeriCorps VISTA mentor last spring. That was the extent of my gardening knowledge.

Fast forwarding to today, I have served over 80 children and 3 families by teaching the art of growing their own food! This is achieved through hydroponic tower gardens, raised garden beds, harvest potluck events, cooking and nutrition demos, and our monthly harvest lottery that enables families to take home FREE local organic food. Additionally in the program, I integrate lessons in teamwork, diversity, social responsibility and sustainability in order to approach healthy living and community building holistically.

Despite my limited gardening knowledge prior to coming here, the impact that community gardening makes on the students I serve has helped me to “SEEDifferently” and understand how essential it is to integrate such programs in early childhood education. It’s been fun to watch how much my students are growing in all aspects of their lives, right along with me. They are more engaged, they are eating healthier, they are excited to learn, and they are growing in their understanding of themselves and each other. Every week when I visit the classrooms to invite kids to participate in our drop-in garden club, nearly every child raises their hand to be picked and join in the fun!

There are many stories of impact to share, but my favorite one is about a girl we’ll call “Ellie”. When I came to class seeking participants, I saw Ellie crying in the corner. She had been suspended from school and was feeling bad about herself. I asked the teacher if I could have her join my club that day, and the teacher said that would be fine, hoping it would help her feel more calm. Ellie was happy to join our club that day, and her tears quickly disappeared when she got her hands in the dirt. As we were weeding the overgrown garden in preparation for new seeds, Ellie pulled out a GIANT carrot that had been growing for some time and had been forgotten about! She went around showing everyone and was extremely proud of herself. It was such a joy to be able to create a space for her to process her feelings in a healthy way while engaging in meaningful work – the carrot was an added bonus for turning her whole day around! For the rest of the day, whenever I passed by Ellie, she was smiling and happy.

The solutions to addressing these health disparities are complex, but a good place to start is at the root; you just have to be willing to get your hands a little dirty. Begin by planting the seeds of change. It starts with you.

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This blog post was written by NHC Florida AmeriCorps member Katherine Cox.

Katherine serves at YMCA in Duval County as a Health Educator.