People have been gathering over food for millenia. It should be no surprise then on October 24 every year thousands of events all around the country bring Americans together to celebrate Food Day, a day to enjoy and support the movement for affordable, sustainable, real food.
Official Food Day Houston organizer Recipe for Success Foundation added an event to the list of celebrations with #HoustonDigsRealFood, a citywide plant-a-palooza. What better way to appreciate real food than by planting, growing, harvesting and preparing vegetables yourself?
Houstonians of every age were encouraged to plant veggie seeds in patches of soil located in offices, window boxes, yards, community gardens and, of course, school gardens. Thirty-five Houston-area schools participated in the event!
MacGregor Elementary hosted the grand finale of the festivities. In a public ceremony with the Mayor's office and local dignitaries, Wells Fargo presented a grant of $200,000 to Recipe for Success Foundation in support of their Hope Farms™ urban agricultural project. After the ceremony, participants including councilmembers Steve Costello and David Robinson, the City's Director of Sustainability Laura Spanjian, planted beet seeds in the school gardens. I see beet brownies in our future!
During the event, MacGregor fifth graders prepared and served crispy sweet potato fries with homemade zesty ketchup to entice guests to shop for school-grown veggies like bok choy, mustard greens, herbs, and sweet potatoes at their farmers marKIDS™ stand. It was quite the garden party!
Did you plant seeds for #HoustonDigsRealFood? Share what you planted in the comment section below!
Learn more about farmers marKIDS here.
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