Teachers are farmers of kids’ knowledge during the school year. They carefully water and prune and do their best to allow children’s’ natural intelligence to blossom.
When school lets out for summer, this growth may stop and actually regress. The average student's education base shrinks by a month in both reading and math over the summer, according to a New York Times report. With the right farmers, however, knowledge can flourish all summer long.
Take a family field trip to the Downtown Milford Farmers’ Market this summer! Here are five lessons just waiting to be absorbed:
1] Nutrition: Simple concepts, like “eat the rainbow” and “fill half your plate with fruits and veggies,” are a lot easier for kids to digest when they are surrounded by piles of fresh produce. Farmers’ markets are seeds from which good eating habits grow.
2] Agriculture: For many kids, farms are out of sight and out of mind. Where food comes from is a mystery. Our farmers are happy to answer kids’ questions about how their food is grown. Imagine kids’ faces when they find out the beets at the market were in dirt just a few hours ago!
3] Conversation: Farmers’ markets are spaces for spontaneous socializing. Kids can make a friend as they color with sidewalk chalk. They can share a muffin with a neighbor. They may even meet folks very different from themselves!
4] Entrepreneurship: With an average of 20 vendors per market, kids can meet and learn from a variety of business experts. Agriculture, healthcare, nutrition, music, fashion, the visual arts, and the culinary arts are just some of the fields our entrepreneurs are creating in.
5] Food Literacy: From aubergine to zucchini, there are so many locally grown vegetables at the farmers’ market for kids to explore. Peak season easily brings over 15 varieties of leafy greens alone! Kids saddened by spinach just may find happiness in escarole, lacinato kale, or swiss chard.
Our farmers can help children's knowledge grow every Saturday, 9 to 1, 58 River Street, downtown Milford. Join us this Saturday for Amazing Animal Kids Day, including friendly therapy dogs and The Critter Caravan!