Next up in our series on efforts Campus Kitchens are making to be more sustainable, we’re looking at the Green Goodies program at Gettysburg College.

Sustainability is quite the buzzword nowaways. Everybody from my mother to my dry cleaner is talking green, organic, local, LEED-certified, grass-fed. Let’s try to cut out the eco-speak. To me, sustainability is simple, simple enough for a child to understand. At it’s core, it’s about discovering the source.

In my humble opinion, the Green Goodies program, which CKGC’s Megan Crowe created last semester, is a perfect illustration of this kind of sustainability. Through the program, she taught the Lincoln Elementary School students she worked with that healthy eating was actually much easier than they thought and that fresh, unprocessed foods are not only affordable, but fun.

“I wanted the kids to take away from this that eating healthfully and practicing sustainability don’t have to be challenges,” said Megan. “By incorporating simple changes into their daily lives these things can become a beneficial habit rather than a chore they need to constantly be reminded of. Some of these changes can be as easy as eating whole grains instead of refined grains, or having a fruit as a snack instead of potato chips.”

What’s more, the Green Goodies program taught the students about where their food comes from. No, not the grocery store, although they did visit a supermarket.

Apples at an orchard near Gettysburg, PA

“In addition to nutrition, the kids also learned about food miles when talking about where their food comes from. At the grocery store we compared apples to see where they came from and found that many of the apples were from Washington State. This just makes no sense because we are in Adams County, PA where there are thousands of acres of apple orchards,” said Megan. “We looked at the miles each apple would travel from Washington State and from Adams County, and talked about the benefits of eating local foods. With the local apples, we could tell you exactly where they came from and the route they took to get from tree to consumer; knowing this is of more importance than most people realize.”

No, they discovered the source when they visited the Painted Turtle Farm, the campus organic farm. It ended up being one of Megan’s favorite lessons.

“Before going over we had talked about the parts of a plant and the things plants need in order to grow, and at the garden the kids were able to actually see what we had learned, ” she said. “After the tour of the garden the kids could look back at a chart and find which vegetables they had just eaten and see which vitamins were found in each. They even learned that they had gotten some of their daily dose of Vitamin D just by being outside in the sun.”

The farm lesson helped Megan show that knowing the source of our food is important not only for the planet’s sake, but for health’s sake.

“By educating kids about where their food comes from it allows them to see the entire connection between themselves, the food they eat, and the waste they produce,” she said. “It also allows them to see the nutritional implications associated with the places food comes from. The foods they should be eating come from nature; grains, vegetables, fruits, milk, lean meats. Whereas the foods they probably prefer to eat are manufactured in a factory; potato chips, ice cream, chocolate bars.”

To hear Megan describe it, sustainability is more than a marketing ploy: it’s a way to give back, a way to return to the source. She said:

“Sustainability is important because to me it means just giving back to the Earth that provides you with so much. Society today has become so accustomed to just taking from the Earth without any regard for the damage being done. ”

It’s simple: “In order to preserve the resources we are given and have them available in the future, sustainability needs to become something we see as important,” said Megan.

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