HINESBURG, Vt. (WCAX) – Students at Vermont’s largest high school are rolling up their sleeves and getting in the garden as part of a program focused on sustainability.
A group of students at Champlain Valley Union High School are developing somewhat of a green thumb, bringing their own fresh produce to a new farm stand.
“I think the goal is to, you know, connect with our community, bringing healthy food to Vermonters,” said Yvonne Miceler, one of the CVU students behind the Raging Rooster Farm Stand, an offshoot of the school’s farm-to-school program.
During the school year, the program grows fresh fruits and veggies to be served in the cafeteria. However, during the summer break, the student-farmers have to adapt. “I think it would be really cool to just expand to the point where we are selling our produce to people that aren’t just students and faculty,” Miceler said.
The students manage the school’s garden and farm stand in front of the school on their own. Sustainability teacher Dave Trevithick says the earlier students learn these skills, the better. “Food comes from somewhere, right, and so I think they’re getting an understanding of where it comes from and kind of all the hardships that go with that. We did almost 350 pounds of food two years ago that went to the cafeteria. Last year, floods wiping that out. Then, this year, having a little more of a hard time as well,” Trevithick said.
And students say they are happy to know that their fresh meals are being grown by their own peers. “We can go into our lunch every day knowing that some of the food that we are eating is from somewhere that is right in our back yard, if it’s not from the surrounding farms. I think it’s a great way to learn about what we are eating,” said Nora Cullen, a CVU junior.