Middle schoolers learn about gardening, food sovereignty

Posted by Christopher S. Pineo | May 26, 2016 | Community |

Navajo Times | Christopher S. Pineo
Tsehootsooi Middle School students add a layer of manure and straw to their “lasagna” garden bed on May 20, a layering technique they learned during an event with Tsehootsooi Medical Center’s Partners in Community Health Program and Navajo County Public Health out of Holbrook to promote food sovereignty.

WINDOW ROCK

The lack of food sovereignty on Navajo Nation creates a big problem, but on May 20 students at Tsehootsooi Middle School contributed their little part as they built what organizers called “lasagna beds” to grow food crops.

“Every hour we get a new class out here, and they’re making what are called lasagna beds – and they’re just layers of green, brown, green brown,” said Matthew Tafoya, project manager of Tsehootsooi Medical Center’s Partners in Community Health Program, which is funded by a three-year grant from the Centers for Disease Control.

For the students, their little part in the big picture meant careful detail in creating the lasagna beds. As each class worked to nurture their chosen crop, they constructed the beds in stages. One class laid down the bottom layer of cardboard, while another added a layer of dirt, another group added manure and hay, as another added in leaves or scrap paper, and some set already sprouted vegetables into the completed beds.

Tafoya said TMC partnered with Navajo County Public Health to learn the technique and teach it to students and other Diné.

“One of the things that we’re trying to do is reduce chronic disease by 50 percent in the next two years,” he said. “One of the interventions we’re focusing on is school gardens because studies show that children who develop a relationship with and eat healthy food when they’re young continue that into adulthood.”