03-03-25 Farm and Forest Schooling for Kids
Guest Kelly McNiff, Founder, Farm and Forest Education Center at Pat’s Pastured
Our food purchasing choices impact both our physical health and environmental sustainability. We can empower children and families by teaching how real food is produced. Fresh fruits, vegetables, eggs and chickens that are regeneratively grown by local farms are far more nutritious and more sustainable than highly-processed food products shipped thousands of miles to distant markets.
The Farm and Forest Education Center at Pat’s Pastured is a local non-profit that helps students explore how good food is grown, giving them the opportunity to observe and care for farm animals and their surrounding environment. Pat’s Pastured is a local Rhode Island Farm with more than 150 acres of green pasture and woodlots. Humanely-raised livestock moves through rotational pastures with plenty of space to roam free.
In 2016, Kelly McNiff, who co-runs the farm with her husband, began running a summer camp in partnership with her sister, Stacy Gale. Kelly is a certified elementary teacher with over 15 years of classroom experience. She earned her undergraduate degree from Northeastern University and pursued her graduate studies at the Teton Science School in Wyoming, where she discovered her passion for place-based learning and outdoor education. Kelly brought her fourth grade students from Providence to experience hands-on learning at the farm, and she talks about her observations and the tremendous benefits to her students. The Farm and Forest Education Center now offers afterschool programs and facilitates school field trip experiences. Join us for this episode to hear more.
INFORMATION RESOURCES
Visit the Farm and Forest Education Center – https://farmforesteducation.org/
Shop Pat’s Pastured – https://www.patspastured.com/
Download the “Cultivating Joy and Wonder” – https://shelburnefarms.org/cultivating-joy-wonder-educating-for-sustainability-in-early-childhood-through-nature-food-and
MORE BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS
Wonder Walkers by Micha Archer
Tops & Bottoms by Janet Stevens
E-I-E-I-O: How Old MacDonald Got His Farm with a Little Help from a Henby by July Sierra
Secrets of the Garden by Kathleen Zoehfeld
The Little Red Hen (Makes a Pizza) by Philomen Sturges
Living Sunlight by M. Bang and P. Chisholm
What If There Were No Bees? by Suzanne Slade
Pick, Pull, Snap! by Lola Schaeffer
Wiggling Worms at Work by Wendy Pfeffer
Errol’s Garden by Gillian Hibbs
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