Brussels sprouts, anyone? School gardens grow knowledge for Memphis kids lacking fresh food

Sylvia Pugh didn’t want anything to do with Brussels sprouts before joining the garden club this year at Kingsbury High School in northeast Memphis.

Now, the Kingsbury senior not only knows how to grow and cook the leafy green vegetable, but also has worked with a wide range of other crops, from turnip greens to soybeans to watermelon.

Sylvia Pugh joined the garden club at Kingsbury High School to learn how to garden for herself. (Caroline Bauman)

Sylvia’s nutritional transformation is noteworthy in a city where tens of thousands of students don’t have access to fresh produce at home, losing out on both their nutritional value and the enjoyment of smelling and tasting farm-to-table foods. It also is a source of daily sustenance for many students who come to school hungry.

“I saw my friends would come into class with food from the garden to take home,” said Sylvia, 17, of Kingsbury’s 3-year-old garden club, which includes a greenhouse and edible garden. “I want to be able to have my own garden when I’m older to provide for my family and grow healthier food. I feel like I’m going to know how to do that.”

Farm-to-school programs are in 51 percent of Tennessee districts, including Shelby County Schools, honored Monday as the state’s winner of the “One in a Melon” award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. As part of the award, Kingsbury and three other Memphis schools — White Station High, Shady Grove Elementary and White Station Elementary — were visited by Katie Wilson, a USDA deputy for food, nutrition and consumer services.

Farm-to-school school programs are designed to sprout healthy habits among students. But in Memphis, they also help to address the daily challenges of poverty and hunger that are barriers to learning, says James Ritter, a science teacher who sponsors Kingsbury’s garden club.

At Kingsbury, students can pick fresh garden veggies or fruit to take home, “but often they just eat what they’ve picked right then and there,” Ritter said.

“These kids are hungry. Often, our students are coming from high-poverty situations. Some have never seen things like cantaloupe or cilantro before,” he said.

In Shelby County, about 82,000 children live in poverty, and all students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch under a federal program. Across Tennessee, one in four children face hunger each day, according to the state Department of Human Services.

Kingsbury teacher Michael Gong eyes a freshly picked melon. (Caroline Bauman)

During Monday’s tour, Wilson was impressed that Kingsbury students volunteer to participate.

“Often these programs are a part of a class, but this is a club that takes of the students’ free time,” Wilson said. “My message to these students is to keep understanding where your food comes from, and teach others.”

To learn more, visit the USDA’s 2015 Farm to School Census.