Butternut Buddies at Ladd Acres Elementary with Keep Growing Seeds

As a part of the work we do with the Pacific Northwest CSA Coalition to promote Community Supported Agriculture, this year we are offering free cooking classes to help bridge the gap between local farms with financially accessible CSA programs and low-income or low-access communities. This year we partnered with community organizations, co-instructors, and local farmers to bring this free cooking class series to life.

In this class, co-instructor, Rosario Allende and I went up to Ladd Acres Elementary to have a cooking class with the kids at their afternoon garden club led by Keep Growing Seeds. Together we made a tasty stir-fry, got to know butternut squash, and kids shopped to take home full bags of local veggies from La Finquita del Buho.

Rosario and I have farmed together for many years and she was also a Farm to School Educator for the Corvallis Environmental Center, bringing such a fun energy to our cooking class with the kids. Kids helped chop vegetables and colored on butternut squash, going home with big loaded bags of veggies that they were so excited about, as well as recipe cards and information on accessible CSA options in the area.