Dalai Lama Fellows

Project Description

The Mountain Garden Initiative partnered with Cumberland Elementary School to start a school garden and accompanying curriculum about food justice in Harlan County, KY. The garden serves 150 elementary school students and is supported by a local teacher and principal. Students participate in regular gardening activities that teach them important agricultural skills and offer a hands-on learning approach to science and environmental studies. This garden project represents a greater vision of passing on the values of environmental sustainability to the next generation, and returning agricultural knowledge to a small coal-mining town in the Appalachian mountains that was once filled with gardens. Hilary and Rachel hope these skills will empower students to grow their own produce sustainably, which will improve access to fresh, local, and nutritious food in this area.