Gettysburg College
IN-3: Innovation 3

Gettysburg College’s garden education program takes place during the summer at the Painted Turtle Farm, the campus’ organic garden. The garden’s student interns collaborate with the on-campus day-care center, The Growing Place. The interns work with a pre-school class to teach the children about gardening and the importance of fruits and vegetables in a healthy diet. If young children can witness their food grow outdoors they are more likely to eat their fruits and vegetables as well as support gardening, food justice, and conservation in the future. The program is designed to encourage children to get outdoors, understand the origins of their food, and to choose healthy options when it comes to eating. The children have their own section at the Painted Turtle Farm that they tend to and harvest. The Painted Turtle Farm Education Program also includes activities inside the classroom, such as potting plants. Children can thus watch the plants grow on a daily basis.