Seed to Table

Food aid alone can only go so far. Seed to Table is our answer to the question every community eventually asks: what happens when you leave? We build school gardens and train parents in sustainable growing so that fresh food becomes something a community produces, not something it waits for.

From a patch of dirt to a school garden

We start with a modest plot on school grounds — often less than a quarter of an acre. Our field team works alongside teachers and students to prepare the soil, install a simple drip irrigation system, and plant a first crop of fast-growing greens. Within a season, the garden is producing vegetables that go straight into the school kitchen.

Teaching the next generation

Gardening is woven into the school week. Students learn to sow, tend and harvest their own crops, and the harvest becomes a lesson in nutrition, biology and simple economics. Children who have grown a carrot are far more likely to eat one.

Alongside the school gardens, we run practical training for parents, focused on drought-resistant varieties, natural pest control and composting. The skills transfer directly to household plots, extending the benefit well beyond the school fence.

Built to outlast us

Every garden is designed to be maintained with locally available tools and materials. We commit to three years of support — seeds, advice and repairs — before handing full ownership to the school and its parent committee. Forty-two gardens have already made that transition.