Western Growers Foundation Announces $150,000 California Garden Grant Recipients

IRVINE, Calif., Oct. 31, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Western Growers Foundation, along with its proud partner, the California Department of Education, announced that 100 California K-12 schools will receive $150,000 in grant money to create and sustain their own edible gardens.  Each school received $1,500 plus seeds and other materials. The grants were made possible through a USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant, administered through California Department of Food and Agriculture.

Western Growers Foundation was created by Western Growers members as a way to give back to their communities. The Foundation's mission is to plant and sustain a fruit and vegetable garden in every willing California and Arizona school, the two states in which Western Growers primarily operates.  Edible school gardens give children the opportunity to learn where their food comes from and the importance of good nutrition. The school gardens program is an important educational tool that Western Growers Foundation uses to promote good nutrition to our school children in both states.

"It's staggering to think that the majority of children go without eating even one serving of fruits and vegetables a day when they should be having five to nine servings," said Paula Olson, vice president of marketing at Western Growers, who oversees the Foundation's Edible School Gardens project. "When students get involved in edible gardens, they really find a new love for eating fruits and veggies because if they grow it, they'll eat it."  

The Edible School Gardens Program is open to all K-12 schools, both public and private, in California and Arizona.  "If schools are interested in participating, we encourage them to watch the Foundation's Collective School Garden Network website www.csgn.org for future grant opportunities," Olson added.

For a list of schools who received the grants CLICK HERE to go to the Foundation's web page. To donate, visit: www.csgn.org/donate.  

ABOUT WESTERN GROWERS FOUNDATION

Western Growers Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public charity that supports innovative nutrition education projects and programs to create healthy individuals and communities. These projects include online consumer education through Producepedia.com and school-age outreach with the School Garden Program.

SOURCE Western Growers Foundation