Community Farmers Markets works out in our communities in a variety of outreach and education programs. Porter Mitchell, the new market manager for our Decatur Farmers Market on Wednesdays, has been working with the youth at the Andrew P. Stewart Center over the fall and winter of 2015, engaging kids in lessons on local and healthy food. Here’s her story (& photos) of her work there.

Community Farmers Markets Edible Outreach: Feeding the Brain and Belly with the Andrew P. Stewart Center

Enjoying a tasty snack of pumpkin seeds, sunbutter and Pink Lady apples!

The Andrew P. Stewart Center has been enriching the lives of Atlanta’s youth for nearly a century.  Committed to serving Atlanta’s historic Pittsburgh community, the Stewart Center provides programs, summer camps, neighborhood revitalization, and an after school program to children in need.  Community Farmers Markets is proud to partner with such an outstanding organization who shares our values in nurturing communities and the people who live there.

Working on a nutrition activity with a lovely manicure

Every Monday during the school year, CFM hosts a snack and a class for the after school program at the Stewart Center. We rotate through grades one to four to make sure every child can participate.  The children taste their way through a variety of local fruits and vegetables while engaging in collaborative and cooperative learning.  A class could include nutrition based activities such as naming all of the red fruits and vegetables we can think of and then learning where these help in the body.  The kids are encouraged think critically, answer their own questions and help each other. The kids truly welcome the break after a long day of school and appreciate an interactive lesson and a tasty snack!

First graders munch and work away!

Caring for a community comes in many forms, grand and sweeping to tiny. CFM hopes their efforts to improve the lives of some of Atlanta’s smallest citizens will have a lasting positive impact for years to come.