The Farmers Against Hunger Learning Center is being regenerated and is a critical component to the New Jersey Agricultural Society's educational mission. Our raised garden beds will be full of vegetables & herbs for the purposes of educating those interested in learning about soil health, propagation, nutrition, and much more. Our volunteer Education Director, June Fisher will be building a curriculum and learning materials for the Rainbow Meadow Land Stewardship Center.
The vision for our Learning Center at Rainbow Meadows begins with our relationship with Burlington County and led by Mary Pat Robbie and their focus on education and providing the public with "educational programs on health and nutrition". The initial work began in 2020 with the building of our raised beds, establishing a vegetable garden, introducing beehives, and beginning educational classes. With our volunteer network, Farmers Against Hunger was growing and building. However, with COVID shutting down group events, the educational component was put on hold and the focus was placed on food distribution during the the pandemic.
In 2024, there is a renewed focus on education specific to Rainbow Meadows and am pleased to report the following plan moving forward:
All of this will be done with the support of our partners at Burlington County, our volunteer network, and our dedicated staff at Farmers Against Hunger. Initial funding from the USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant allows us to begin this important work but we'll need additional support from corporate donors, individuals, state & federal grants in order to build and grow our commitment to education. Please Support our Agricultural Education programming.
The vision for our Learning Center at Rainbow Meadows begins with our relationship with Burlington County and led by Mary Pat Robbie and their focus on education and providing the public with "educational programs on health and nutrition". The initial work began in 2020 with the building of our raised beds, establishing a vegetable garden, introducing beehives, and beginning educational classes. With our volunteer network, Farmers Against Hunger was growing and building. However, with COVID shutting down group events, the educational component was put on hold and the focus was placed on food distribution during the the pandemic.
In 2024, there is a renewed focus on education specific to Rainbow Meadows and am pleased to report the following plan moving forward:
- Vegetable and Herb Garden. Already in the initial stages. Farmers Against Hunger and our volunteers are preparing the beds and will soon be planting vegetables and herbs for the purposes of educating the public on the importance of fresh, nutritious foods right from New Jersey. We'll be providing updates on our progress in our newsletter and on our website.
- Composting. We now have an active and healthy composting area that allows us to dispose of any foods we collect from our partners. Kyle Newhall has been leading this initiative and in just two months we are already producing nutrient rich soil to supplement our garden beds. The next phase of our educational work will implement a composting "give and get" program for the public to drop off their compost materials while also being able to pick up fresh soils for their own vegetable gardens. More to come on this program!
- Pollinator Garden. In addition to our herbs and vegetables, we are planning on having a pollinator garden to attract the birds and insects to create a dynamic ecosystem to keep pests away from our vegetables and to optimize pollination for all of our fruits & vegetables. This will happen in concert with our beautification project in the front of our facility.
- Landscaping and Plants. Working with Apiary Studio we will be rebuilding two of our garden beds next to our building. This will not only draw the public to Farmers Against Hunger but also will be part of our education to native plants that thrive in Burlington County, New Jersey. Timing on this work is slated for mid-summer.
- Curriculum. Our volunteer Education Director, June Fisher, is developing curriculum and learning tools for the Rainbow Meadows Land Stewardship Center. Once we have the curriculum in place, we'll invite the public, schools, and organizations who are interested an opportunity to visit our gardens and learn from one of our teachers. All of our teaching materials will be available on the website and updates will be included in our newsletter on a regular basis. We are just getting started!!
All of this will be done with the support of our partners at Burlington County, our volunteer network, and our dedicated staff at Farmers Against Hunger. Initial funding from the USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant allows us to begin this important work but we'll need additional support from corporate donors, individuals, state & federal grants in order to build and grow our commitment to education. Please Support our Agricultural Education programming.