USF anthropologists teach grade-schoolers in South St. Pete how to love vegetables
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Mariah is a first-grader at Lakeview Fundamental in South St. Pete, and she's very excited about her new harvest. "It's a radish, guys! Look how big! " she said, standing by a small but robust garden at the Sanderlin Family Center, a nonprofit that supports the community.
Mariah is part of a USF Department of Anthropology program that teaches hundreds of students in the neighborhood how to know and grow their veggies. "Healthy soil produces healthy food, healthy food produces healthy people," said USF grad student Funmi Odumosu, one of the leaders of the after-school program. Funded in part by the USDA, USF is creating several community gardens in South St. Pete — including the 15th Street Farm Nutritional Education Program — to address issues of nutrition, food insecurity and more. "A lot of these kids don't know about healthy foods," said program volunteer gardener Damien White.
"Instead, they talk about Takis and Doritos. They know more about snack foods than fruits and vegetables. " The produce grown in these kid-fueled community gardens is donated to local food pantries.