On a cool spring day recently, the 1-acre farm A. Mario Loiederman Middle School in Wheaton buzzed with activity.

In the lower field educational garden, students in the afterschool farm club are assigned their tasks, first to check on the seedlings and then to shovel and spread woodchips along paths in the upper larger production plot. They do this alongside a team of high school Department of Recreation interns who are crafting a wooden cover for the compost bin.

It鈥檚 affectionately called La Ranchera, a reference to the nearly two-thirds at the school who live nearby. But a little over a year ago this was the school鈥檚 backyard, then a grassy field over backfill from construction of Loiderman鈥檚 new Performing Arts Center, says Kate Medina, executive director and co-founder of the for Urban Farming (CKC).

The nonprofit has partnered with Montgomery County Public Schools to develop and run the Loiederman project. Medina says CKC was a natural fit. 鈥淲e always had the mission to create and sustain a network of neighborhood farms,鈥� she said.

In 2016, the Montgomery County Council afforded special agricultural tax credits to the downtown Silver Spring Charles Koiner family property, making it the first urban farm in the county. Three years later it became the first urban farm in the state to be protected by a conservation easement.

Rethinking school yards

In the 2024 agreement with CKC, the county school system designated Loiederman as a Resilience, Education, Action, Climate and Habitat (REACH) Hub. Medina says the pilot program at the school essentially is a mandate to rethink school yards as educational and community assets.

鈥淚t鈥檚 an opportunity for people to have not just a one-time snapshot or one chance at outdoor education, but to really see nature as this changing, evolving dynamic place and learn from every aspect of that,鈥� she said.

And that vision required leveraging funds to bring it to life.

鈥淭he REACH Hub and Farm has generated $2 million for the buildout of this unique site, which is both a school farm and a community resilience hub,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his includes $1 million from the Maryland Energy Administration for the resilience elements, plus another $1 million from a combination of state, county and private funding partners, most notably the Maryland Department of Agriculture, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, and Montgomery County Office of Food Systems Resilience.鈥�

Medina said it鈥檚 been a strong start to Loiederman鈥檚 first full season. Infrastructure is largely complete, except for the installation of the solar agrivoltaics, and the solar hook-ups that will operate the composter and open-air wash station, which she expects to go online in coming weeks. Also, since last season, fencing enclosed the gardens, safety lighting was installed and new trees planted.

鈥淭hrough partnerships, grants and volunteer hours, we have built and filled 140 raised beds, installed a 10-by-10-by-8 walk-in cold storage unit, built tool racks and storage sheds,鈥� she said.

Those beds are expected to yield 6,000 pounds of fresh produce annually, of which half will be donated to nonprofits and food banks for distribution.

Community liaisons flex civic muscles

Medina credits a small, but active group of community liaisons, largely women in the neighborhood, who help keep the project on track.

鈥淎t every turn they tell us how to name the farm, how to lobby the right people within MCPS, how to find volunteers, how to run the market, everything,鈥� she said.

Lorena Davalos and Juanita Roca are leaders in the group.

Davalos is a Mexican-American, whose family migrated to California with the bracero program, a guest worker initiative that brought Mexicans legally to the United States during and after World War II to fill vacant agricultural jobs.聽 She has carried that history forward, employed in agricultural projects worldwide. Roca, born in Colombia, now retired, shares that connection in agricultural development.

Now, they say it鈥檚 time to bring that know-how home.

The two advocates post messages, distribute flyers and go door-to-door to promote the farm and the twice-monthly farmer鈥檚 market that has stalls with fresh produce, homemade ice cream, honey and handicrafts. They are encouraging entrepreneurs to set up shop, and to learn from one another in workshops that tie into their values.

鈥淩ight now, I think what our vision is, is that this becomes a magnet for the community, what the community has to offer,鈥� Davalos said. 鈥淭here so much knowledge here within the community that [is being lost].聽 We need to showcase it, and it鈥檚 a perfect opportunity for folks to make traditional drinks鈥� or foods.

Minority-majority community reaffirms identity

Roca says the result empowers the community at the grassroots, reaffirming its identity.

鈥淭his is creating a civic muscle for other things,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just about food security, or it鈥檚 not just about can I grow a tomato. It鈥檚 going to help to improve the schools. It鈥檚 going to help mobilize resources to fix a road, all these different things.鈥�

About 17,000 students from 20 schools live within a 2-mile radius of in the Wheaton-Glenmont area, a majority-minority community, largely Hispanic, but also with a significant African and Asian immigrant population. Medina says that proximity could help save lives in a natural disaster.

鈥淭his space being so close to where people live will activate with increased food production, public charging stations, and other resources needed in a climate disaster,鈥� she said.

CKC has signed a 10-year agreement with the at Loiederman with the hope of replicating its farm model in other schoolyards.

鈥淲e would love to protect this property in perpetuity, but really the opportunity here is to make it so valuable to the school and to the community, that we couldn鈥檛 imagine life without something like this,鈥� Medina said.

And it will take kids like Steven, a Loiederman seventh grader in the afterschool farm club to make the project thrive.

鈥淚 like the outdoors,鈥� he says as he eagerly hauls wood chips with his good friend Bryson, alternating who shovels and who spreads the chips. 鈥淚 feel great giving back to Mother Nature, doing these things around the farm. I like the hard work.鈥�

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Maryland Matters maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Steve Crane for questions: editor@marylandmatters.org.

At Salish Coast Elementary School in Port Townsend, a group of fifth grade students is asked a math question: If a farmer wants to plant four seeds per foot in two 40-foot rows, how many seeds will the farmer need?

It鈥檚 the kind of math problem teachers often ask fifth graders. At Salish Coast, though, it鈥檚 not theoretical: 鈥淔armer Neil鈥� asks the question, and the students plant the seeds.

鈥淚f you know you helped make the food, it always tastes better,鈥� says 11-year-old Gus Griffin, who鈥檚 helping plant 320 bean seeds in one of Salish Coast鈥檚 three gardens. (That鈥檚 the answer to the math question, by the way.)

Salish Coast鈥檚 gardens are part of Port Townsend School District鈥檚 farm-to-school program, and 鈥淔armer Neil鈥� is what the kids call the school鈥檚 garden production manager, Neil Howe. Howe tries to teach kids math, science and research skills through gardening. He also tries to foster their curiosity.

鈥淓very time I find a grub out there, I try to link it back to science. 鈥榃hat is this? Does anybody know?鈥� I want them to pass it around. I want them to want to know what that is,鈥� Howe said.

奥补蝉丑颈苍驳迟辞苍鈥檚 , and since then, farm-to-school has exploded in popularity. Last fall, the Washington State Department of Agriculture received over $8 million in farm-to-school funding requests from schools, more than twice the amount of funds available.

The state expanded the program in 2021 using federal COVID-19 funds. Based on how the budget is written, the agriculture department expects that as federal funds run out, legislators will backfill the money with state dollars.

鈥淭he kids will eat [school meals] more when they own their own food,鈥� said Shannon Gray, the Port Townsend district鈥檚 food services director.

鈥淚鈥檒l put the picture of the garden above anything that鈥檚 from the garden,鈥� Gray said about the school鈥檚 cafeteria meals. 鈥淚f they鈥檙e not eating it, [I鈥檒l realize] 鈥極h, yeah, I forgot to put the picture up.鈥欌��

The rise of farm-to-school

At least half of 奥补蝉丑颈苍驳迟辞苍鈥檚 districts are participating in some type of farm-to-school food program, estimates Annette Slonim, WSDA鈥檚 farm-to-school lead.

A 2019 of schools from the U.S. Department of Agriculture found about 68% of Washington respondents were farm-to-school participants, representing over 1,300 of the state鈥檚 schools, which number around 3,000 total.

Over half of the survey鈥檚 Washington respondents had been participating in farm-to-school programs for less than three years.

This year, USDA nutrition guidelines are expected to limit added sugar in school meals for the first time. But with farm-to-school, it can be easier to control sugar, sodium and other nutritional content.

Slonim said the pandemic also showed districts that local businesses are less susceptible to disruptions in the global food supply chain.

鈥淸The pandemic] made visible how fragile some parts of the food supply chain are,鈥� Slonim said.

Small businesses and communities benefit, too: Port Townsend, for example, purchased over 1,000 pounds of pork over the last two school years from , a local farm owned by Charlotte Frederickson and her husband, Martin Frederickson. The pigs at One Straw Ranch also eat local feed and spend most of their time outside, unlike most factory farm pigs.

鈥淲e feel that having a connection to your food is important environmentally, socially, ethically 鈥� across the board,鈥� Charlotte Frederickson said. 鈥淭o be able to nurture that in the next generation of consumers who will soon be choosing where to buy their food鈥t makes us feel really good.鈥�

Port Townsend鈥檚 program continues to expand. Howe and the students grew about 4,000 pounds of produce last year. This year, he鈥檚 hoping for 6,000 pounds 鈥� and the kids seem more than happy to help.

鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty groovy,鈥� said Griffin, the 11-year-old student, looking at the garden.

Nutritional and educational benefits

Cassandra Hayes, nutrition services director at Colville School District, said she鈥檚 been surprised with how little some kids know about where their food comes from.

When the district first implemented farm-to-school, Hayes did a carrot showcase, featuring Washington carrots that still had the tops on them. Some of the kids told her they thought carrots came like peeled baby carrots.

Colville School District鈥檚 farm-to-school program has only been going on for two years. Two high school sweethearts who graduated from the district now produce the beef for schools there.

Hayes said there鈥檚 some trial and error that goes into figuring out what the kids will eat. For example, the high school students help make the ranch dressing from scratch at Colville, and some kids love it 鈥� but others 鈥渁re like, I want my Hidden Valley back,鈥� Hayes said.

But she said it鈥檚 worth it and the kids often like the local food better. Last year, Colville bought out its local carrot producer and had to return to its old producer, and the kids came up to Hayes to complain.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e like, 鈥榃hat is this?鈥欌�� Hayes said. 鈥淎nd they held up a carrot. I鈥檓 like, 鈥楾hat鈥檚 a carrot,鈥� and they鈥檙e like, 鈥楴o, this is not those carrots that you gave us鈥hey鈥檙e not as sweet.鈥欌��

鈥淚鈥檓 like, 鈥業鈥檓 sorry, I don鈥檛 know what to tell you, you guys ate them all,鈥欌�� Hayes said. 鈥淎nd they鈥檙e like, 鈥榃ell, tell them to go make some more!鈥欌��

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