Author Archives: megan

Teens Turning Green

Of course, whenever I hear of a mother-daughter team accomplishing something, I am all ears. Especially when they’re tackling big stuff like Judi Shils and Erin Schrode are. Mother-daughter team Judi and Erin founded Teens Turning Green in 2005 to educate local teens (and anyone else who would listen) about the harmful ingredients in cosmetics and personal-care items. Turns out, lots of teens were concerned about this issue and their campaign was a huge success. They realized their message was reaching far beyond cosmetics and into many other aspects of eco-responsible lifestyles. Teens Turning Green has an impressive resume: They developed a small collection of body- and skin-care products; launched a school platform to investigate the safety of the food, janitorial, and landscape products being used around children; developed an online toolkit called Project Green Prom to highlight ecological beauty, fashion, décor, and transportation options; and took on back-to-school with Project Green Dorm.

Project participants via teensturninggreen.org

The list is long, but the project that especially caught our eye here at the farm is the organization’s Conscious Kitchen Project, which is dedicated to a complete transformation of our nation’s school-lunch programs.

students via teensturninggreen.org

They launched a pilot program in Marin City, California, in August 2013 at a school in which 95% of the 150 students qualified for free- and reduced-meal programs. This provided a unique and significant demographic, as it was representative of so many underserved school children all around the country who are receiving processed, over-packaged meals that provide little nutrition. Teens Turning Green partnered with Executive Chef Justin Everett of Cavallo Point Lodge and Good Earth Natural Foods and raised enough money to transition this school kitchen from heat-and-serve to one where the head chef and his team cook 300 nutritious meals a day from scratch.

Chef Justin and students via teensturninggreen.org

This elementary school has seen a 70% decline in behavioral issues since the program began, as well as measured increases in attention span, on-time arrival, and overall attendance. And Chef Justin is inspiring some would-be chefs by offering mentoring in his kitchen on Friday nights. I love everything about this project. Nice work, Teens Turning Green!

Feeding Children Everywhere

In a recent post, I briefly touched on a volunteer effort at our local Lentil Festival involving Feeding Children Everywhere and wanted to share with you a little more on their efforts.

Their mission states that “Feeding Children Everywhere is a social charity that empowers and mobilizes people to assemble healthy meals for hungry children.” And I would say that’s delightfully true; our local team of volunteers packed 25,386 meals in 3 hours. Talk about empowerment and mobilization! Each one of these meals includes lentils, dehydrated vegetables, pink Himalayan salt, and rice, providing an all-natural, soy-free, gluten-free, preservative-free, kosher-certified and vegan meal.

Meal pie chart via feedingchildreneverywhere.com

All of this goodness was started in 2010 by Don Campbell, a Florida resident who made a big difference on a personal level by inviting children in need to share a meal at his table. Since those days, 32 million meals have been delivered to 30 countries by 198,000 volunteers, and that impressive number continues to grow. For every dollar received, Feeding Children Everywhere packages and ships out four meals to a hungry child somewhere in the world.

child and box of meals via feedingchildreneverywhere.com

And anyone can host or join a “hunger project,” the term FCE uses to refer to any group of people coming together to stop hunger, and they make it easy to sign up right on their website. The website also provides a calendar of all the hunger projects and open events available to volunteers.

child and meal via feedingchildreneverywhere.com

Check out a few of their beautiful videos for more in-depth conversations about the impact of this program.

Our Little Farmers

We took our Tabitha out again. On the way home, we stopped to stretch our legs in the middle of Washington state farmland.

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The gravel surrounding the silos was a perfect spot for a quick game of tag, but when I came around the side of the camper, I found Stella hunched over the dog’s water bowl with a handful of the stray wheat berries …

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… planting wheat, of course.

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And Mia, being a tad younger, was around the other side of the truck planting hers in the gravel, no water needed. Ha!

 

Glamping

We took our Tabitha on an excursion.

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We stayed next door to NannyJane and Grandpa with Uncle Brian and Aunt Ashley and their kiddos just down the lane in the Forest Service campground we stayed in. I’m sure you’ll be seeing many more pics of NannyJane’s new glamper, but I’m sneaking you a peek for now.

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The grandparents brought the good stuff. Plenty of tomatoes from the garden, and every granddaughter needs a s’more!

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Bath Time

We’ve had such a warm summer, but it’s coming to an end. To celebrate our first day of cooler weather, we bundled up and headed to the tub, farmgirl style.

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It even started to rain, which we’ve been dreaming of for weeks!

Our Lentil Festival

We love our lentils and their farmers so much here on the Palouse that we hold an annual two-day celebration to honor them. And why not? Our region grows 25% of the nation’s lentil supply, and we are world-renowned for producing the highest quality lentils in the U.S.

Since 1989, revelers have visited Pullman, Washington (our little sister city right across the border), from all across the country to celebrate this tiny legume during the Lentil Festival. The chosen weekend in August always coincides with the beginning of a new school year for both of our universities (The University of Idaho here in Moscow and Washington State University in Pullman) as well as our local schools, so you’re bound to run into someone you know while you sample some lentil chili from a 600-gallon pot.

lentil chili pot via lentilfest.com

That’s right, they stir it with a boat paddle!

If you’re the athletic sort, you can run in the 5K race, play a game of 3-on-3 basketball, glide through a skateboard competition, or join in the mini golf tournament.

lentil festival runners via lentilfest.com

And don’t forget the parade! The little cuties below are this year’s ‘Lil Lentil King and Queen.

lentil festival parade via lentilfest.com

Local artisans display their wares, a stage hosts great live music, and a beer and wine garden features local microbrews and wines.

Of course, it’s not all about parties and parades. This year, local sponsors partnered with Feeding Children Everywhere, and thanks to their support and the work of many volunteers, 25,000 healthy meals featuring lentils were hand-packed for local distribution. And our local humane shelter raised $30,000 for the animals.

If you’re out this way next year, you should definitely drop in. There’s a little something for everyone.

First Day of School

Somehow, summer has come to an end and I now have a second grader and a first grader. Back to school we went!

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And since we don’t get to move into our new house for another few weeks, we got to head off to school from the farm. Pretty exciting for these two farmgirls.

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Here’s to wishing you all a wonderful year!

 

Farm Life

While I was washing up the dinner dishes a couple of nights ago, I heard the screen door slam and two little sets of footsteps running down the path to find NannyJane.

Apparently, they were in search of greener pastures and wanted to take Ester Lily for an evening stroll.

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Once again, Mia is in her pajamas and cowgirl boots. I suppose it’s her own unique farmgirl-style statement.

Feeding the Cows

Miss Mia sings everywhere she goes, and if she isn’t singing, she’s acting like everything is a drum set. So while the girls help NannyJane with feeding the cows, she sings and the cows are baffled…

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Adopt-a-Cow

In the last two pages of our children’s book, Moo-n Over Main Street Metropolis, we created a project for kids so they can have their very own Jersey cow. All they have to do is make a color copy of the cow, Sally O’Mally, in the book onto cardstock, write their cow’s name on her pinafore, cut her out, take a photo of the two of them together, and mail or e-mail it to us. We’ve posted some of the photos on our HeritageJersey.org website.

Here’s a glimpse of Dolly Anna and Gladys Pippi on their first trip with us.

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