“We’re growing corn with the students,
shelling it, grinding it, making masa, making tortillas, and making breakfast quesadillas with eggs from the chickens. We’re getting protein in our snack and eating fruit from the farm and making salads from the farm.”
“We’re growing corn with the students, shelling it, grinding it, making masa, making tortillas, and making breakfast quesadillas with eggs from the chickens. We’re getting protein in our snack and eating fruit from the farm and making salads from the farm,” Grace shares. Everything at Poco is grown using regenerative practices, so children also get firsthand experience in what that means for their nutrition long-term. Since everything on Poco is meant to inform and educate, Grace says the 48 no-till, 50-foot growing beds are narrower than conventional ones, providing access for the smallest hands to dig into the dirt. There’s a sense of rewilding going on at Poco, as Grace talks about the kids getting comfortable in their “animal bodies,” showing respect for the process of interacting with the land, goats, birds, and especially other children. No set curriculum exists, just a gentle demonstration of the possibilities when children are allowed to be free in the natural world.
As Poco grows in popularity, the Malloys and Forthe receive support, including an Elevated Foods grant that will help improve the land and operations for the three pillars of their model: Local education is gaining more and more traction, after-school programs and summer camps extend learning beyond the school day, and increasing yields ensure produce donations continue to feed students and local organizations. “We really have faith that the momentum will continue to build and that this is the right path to be walking for all of us,” Grace says, as I notice a few students in the distance, stuffing their faces full of freshly harvested kale. With farms like Poco around, we can all trust that the next generation is going to be just fine — as long as they can dig in the dirt.
Opposite: A gathering place for students to get better acquainted with their “animal bodies.” Above: The rewards of community are often measured in smiles.
Visit POCOFARM.COM to learn more.
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ISSUE 02
NATURAL CURIOSITIES
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