Growing School Gardens Summit to be held in San Diego

SAN DIEGO – School gardeners from around the nation will be attending the Growing School Gardens Summit San Diego, March 15-18.

This national school garden conference is to be held at the Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines. Anyone involved in local school gardens is invited to attend with their garden friends, master gardeners and meet new gardeners at this weekend conference. It will provide them with ideas to improve their school gardens, provide garden education and connect them with new friends.

The conference is hosted by Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation which is helping kids grow healthy through nutrition education and hands-on gardening programs that bring learning to life.

In partnership with more than 100 nonprofit organizations, it is teaching children how to grow and prepare fresh, nutritious foods, and empowering them with the tools they need to develop healthy eating habits that last a lifetime.

The foundation knows children who grow their own fruits and vegetables tend to eat more fresh produce. And with added cooking instruction, they’ll incorporate more of these healthy eating habits into their everyday lives. But school gardens do more than just grow produce, they support the whole child, benefiting their social, emotional, physical and mental health.

The foundation is excited to bring together over 500 school gardening professionals to explore the incredible power of school gardening programs. Building upon the last Summit’s feedback, this upcoming gathering will feature even more field trips, dive deeper into the topics they care most about, and provide opportunities to grow and share about their program with fellow school gardeners from across the nation.

Other highlights include:

· New cooking and outdoor demonstration sessions

· 40 workshop sessions and over 30 lightning talks to choose from

· Educational spaces, indoors & outdoors, overlooking the beautiful Torrey Pines golf course and the Pacific Ocean

· Curated meals to nourish bodies and fuel learning

· Morning exercise programs hosted on-site by fellow attendees, plus access to a state-of-the-art fitness center next door

· Amazing speakers each day

For cost, more information and to register, go to https://schoolgardensummit.org/.

Submitted by Roger Boddaert.