The Connecticut Department of Agriculture (CT DoAg) is awarding 53 grants totaling more than $2.8 million through its Connecticut Grown for Connecticut Kids Grant (CTG4CTK Grant) program. The purpose of this grant is to increase the availability of local foods in child nutrition programs, allow educators to use hands-on educational techniques to teach students about nutrition and farm-to-school connections, build relationships with local farmers and producers, and help children build healthy habits from a young age.
A few organizations in our community are set to receive funding:
- Ponus Ridge STEAM Academy in Norwalk was awarded $2,250 for their “Digging In” project to provide their farm to school program with high quality soil and the ability to maintain that quality using vermicomposting. This grant will also go to the continued support of their project “Edible U” which brings students through each step of the food system from seed to plate through activities in the classroom, garden, and cafeteria.
- Stepping Stones Museum for Children, Norwalk: Early Language and Literacy Initiative (ELLI) Classroom Farm to School Learning Project has been awarded $45,730 to support their Early Learning and Literacy initiative classroom students in the study of the relationship between food, the environment, and sustainability within the big idea of global citizenship and a healthy foodshed. The classroom curriculum will be supplemented with active gardening participation, visits from local farmers, bi-weekly lunches sourced directly from the Museum’s Healthyville Café farm partners and CSA shares.
- High Ridge Hydroponics, LLC was awarded just under $250,000 in the shipping container category to provide funding for facility development and educational initiatives.
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