Alamo Garden Provides Organic Produce to School Cafeteria

Native gardening is a high school elective class offered at Alamo Navajo High School. Students in the class study the history of agriculture in North and South America. Four Native American tribes, all of whom built early civilizations based on farming, are studied the Maya, the Inca, the Hohokkam and the Anasazi. Students also participate in hands-on organic food production both in the school’s outdoor garden (named the Garden of the Home God) and in the school greenhouse.

Currently, students in Native Gardening Class are harvesting mass quantities of vegetables planted by last year’s class in May. The harvested food is being used by the school cafeteria to both cut costs and to educate all students in the school on the importance of healthy eating. A salad bar is offered for lunch once a week, and students in Native Gardening class are currently gearing up the greenhouse to provide baby organic greens to 280 students once a week!

The Alamo Navajo Reservation is currently plagued with an epidemic of adult-onset type II diabetes. Students in the Native Gardening class feel that growing, sharing, and discussing healthy food with the student body is a powerful weapon in fighting this disease.

The same students have recently begun an industrial-size composting project. Students in the cafeteria are being taught how to separate their food trash, and cafeteria food wastes are going into the compost bins. The compost produced will be used in the school gardens and greenhouse to enrich the soil, thus providing more healthy food for the students to eat. Sustainability is on the vocabulary board in the Native Gardening classroom.

Vegetables from the student garden were served on the cafeteria salad bar.

Students in the high school’s Native Gardening Class grew and harvested 10 pounds of beans and 15 pounds of Navajo Squash for vegetable soup that was served for lunch Tuesday, Sept. 12.

The class delivered 60 ears of sweet corn and 20 pounds of Navajo squash to the Alamo Cafeteria staff the Wednesday, Sept. 13.

Alamo students can keep watching their cafeteria trays for more great vegetables. 100 percent organic produce from the ‘Garden of the Home God’ to your soup bowl!