Bring Farm and Food Eduction to Your Public School Classroom

VFFS offers farm, food, and nutrition lessons in your classroom, community and cafeteria based on  Vermont State Academic Standards.  

From individual lessons to weekly programming to school field trips at Drift Farmstead, we work with schools to broaden students’ experiential learning opportunities.  

We’re now scheduling for the 2020/2021 school year.  Contact us for more information and to schedule VFFS in your classroom.

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Our Programming

Individual lessons

Get a taste of VFFS programming with an individual lesson in your classroom.  

Plant Life Cycles

What makes a plant a plant?  How do plants grow? What are the “Fabulous Five” that keep plants alive?  In this lesson, students discover the answers through curiosity and hands-on learning.  This lesson includes dressing up as a plant, soil making, and starting seeds.  

My Plate Nutrition classes/Taste Tests

The work we do with schools focuses curriculum, cafeteria and community. We provide experiential learning through farm, food, nutrition standards based curriculum. At all of the schools we work with we help grow a school culture that “trys new foods”. Monthly taste tests highlight ultra local veggies that classes prepare in the classroom and serve to the whole school community during lunches. One of our favorite classes that we teach to all grade levels is “My Plate”. We learn about healthy, balanced nutrition through cooking many different recipes based on the food groups. 

Weekly programming

Give your students an opportunity to cultivate curiosity and grow their understanding about food and nutrition with weekly programming from VFFS in your classroom.

Farm, Food & Empathy 

Where does our food come from? How does it get here? Does everyone in the world eat the same food? Do all people in the world have the same access to food?  Students explore the answers to these questions and more in this 4-class unit.

With an emphasis on global perspectives and empathy, this unit teaches students about  food access, equality, distribution, and all the parts involved in our food systems.

Field Trips

Take a step outside the school and onto a working farm with an educational field trip to Drift Farmstead, home of VFFS.

We customize each field trip to meet your class interests and needs — but the goal is always the same: to share our family farm life with your students.  Field trips to the farm deepen your students’ understanding of farming, plant and animal life, and the natural world through hands-on experiential learning.

Example Field Trip to Drift Farmstead:

When you arrive, we’ll welcome you off the bus and into a toe-to-toe circle.  We’ll begin with closed eyes and deep breaths as we listen and smell, grounding into this new landscape with all of our senses.

From there, we’ll head into the fields for hands-on activities.

Activities include:

  • Animal or plant scavenger hunts
  • Sowing seeds and transplanting seedlings
  • Harvesting vegetables
  • Cooking in our wood-fired pizza oven
  • Farm crafts, including weaving, felting, soap making and lip-balm making
  • Group games
  • Forest play and hikes

Students leave feeling fulfilled and asking when they can come back to the farm.

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