Media release, Brit MacDonald, National Director, LGT
April 11, 2023
In the last 15 years, more than 150,000 students across Canada have grown a classroom garden and planted the seeds of food and farming knowledge and understanding.
Little Green Thumbs, a program managed by Agriculture in the Classroom Saskatchewan (AITC-SK), provides teachers with the equipment, training, and ongoing support to grow food right in their own classrooms and to harvest the learning opportunities it presents. Students actively participate in planting and caring for their garden, growing a variety of vegetables such as lettuce, beans, cucumbers, and tomatoes. Classroom gardens become living laboratories, a tool for students to apply real-life STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) skills and bring learning to life. An LGT garden becomes an extension of a traditional classroom, naturally inspiring inquiry-based, cross-curricular, and experiential learning.
“We know that our communities need informed and inspired leaders,” said Brit MacDonald, LGT National Program Director. “We need to equip the next generation with the skills, knowledge, and motivation to work for the health of our food system, environment, and each other. A garden is a great place to grow such leaders.”
The impact of a classroom garden on students extends beyond learning how to grow food. There is a growing recognition in our country that food and farming lie at the heart of some of our most pressing social and environmental issues. More importantly, they lie at the heart of the solutions. Because of this, food and farming present some of our most current and engaging educational opportunities, and Little Green Thumbs is a model example. Students truly get their hands dirty growing classroom crops, harvesting food, skills, and knowledge, and then sharing that experience with their school, family, and greater community.
Leanne Schappert, a Little Green Thumbs teacher who has been growing a Little Green Thumbs garden for 15 years says, “Having a garden in the classroom is the opportunity to have hands-on learning for my students. Being a part of the garden, planting and taking care of it, and having a vested interest really makes learning happen. I see they’re excited about learning. They’re passionate about learning. They walk in the classroom every day to see what's happening. I can’t imagine teaching without [the garden].”
The Little Green Thumbs program began with four teachers in Saskatchewan in 2007. Over 15 years it has expanded into Alberta, Newfoundland, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, and Quebec, and has over 1,100 teachers and 26,000 students ‘dig in’ each year across Canada. In Saskatchewan alone, 38,303 students have participated in the program in a decade and a half.
