Entire Issue - Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania

bronze, silver and gold awards | discover
My Gold Award project entitled
“Food from the Farm” took place
last summer at Snipes Farm and
Education Center, a local farm in
my community. I first got in contact
with Snipes after learning about their
Community Supported Agriculture
(CSA) Program. CSA allows members
of the community to get fresh,
naturally grown, local produce each
week from June to November. The
vegetables that are distributed each
week vary. Some weeks include
carrots and celery, while others may
feature bok choy and kohlrabi. Some
of these vegetables weren’t very well
known. To ensure that food didn’t
get wasted and to promote the
importance of buying from local farms,
I decided to address these issues in
my Gold Award project. There were
multiple aspects to my project.
First, I volunteered my time at the
farm. I worked in the fields with the
farm staff and learned the amount of
work that goes into growing something
Through my project, I was able to… make
sure that those who need
food get it, and those who have it use it.
as simple as a tomato. After learning
about the farming process, I decided
to do my own research about organic
farming and the unknown produce
of the CSA program. I put together
poster boards that displayed
nutritional information for the
vegetables that the CSA members
would be receiving and found easy
recipes for vegetables. I held two
tasting events where this information
was given out to CSA members as
well as samples of a few of the recipes.
Some of the most popular were
zucchini bread, cherry tomato cookies,
and swiss chard and artichoke pizza.
The members enjoyed learning new
ways to cook with the vegetables (and
fruits) and the recipes helped them
not waste the produce.
The second aspect of my project was
a children’s program that was held
on one of the CSA pickup days. On
this day, I had four stations set up
around the farm where kids could
learn about growing organic produce,
composts, chickens, and solar energy.
Each station had an activity where
kids could test their newly learned
knowledge. It was important to me
to educate the next generation
on organic farming and earth
sustainability. I provided Snipes Farm
with a copy of my program so it can be
used in the future.
The final and most easily sustainable
part of my project was setting up a
donation for extra produce at the
farm. Through Feeding America, I
was able to find a local organization
that was willing to accept three to
five bushels of produce each week
during the growing season. With the
completion of all these aspects, my
Gold Award project was completed.
Through my project, I was able to learn
about organic farming, apply it and
reinforce it to others, make sure that
those who need food get it, and those
who have it use it.
gsep.org • spark • fall/winter 2012 35