Hello Friends!
This is Gabrielle reporting in as Growing Food and Sustainability’s Youth Farm Director (if you don’t know us yet, we’re a Summer of Solutions program and Local Initiative in Middleton, WI). A big goal of ours is to provide fresh, local produce to the Middleton community. To that end, we have donated over 2,500 pounds of produce to the MOM Food Pantry (all by bike trailer!) in the past two growing seasons. We also love donating our produce to other good causes, like the Middleton High School Ecology Club’s Annual Organic Dinner!
Last year was the first year that Organic Dinner featured produce grown right at the school. This year, we teamed-up with Ecology Club to make it even better: all of the produce used in the meal was grown at the Youth Farm, and all of the cooking was done by the students themselves! We had a great dinner featuring pasta with pesto and tomato sauce, bread, kale salad, and ice cream. Many local businesses supported our efforts and 130 community members turned out for the dinner. What a success!
Reflections from the students of Ecology Club:
“After experiencing the Organic Dinner, I have decided that Ecology Club is the best club ever! The dinner had a fabulous ambiance that made people want to stay. Can’t wait until next year!” – Sarah (Ecology Club Secretary)
“I loved it! Great turn out, great food, great friends.” – Kyra (Ecology Club Co-Vice President)
“This year’s dinner was a total blast! Out of all of my years in Eco Club, I feel like this year’s dinner was the best. The food, the atmosphere, the people — just everything was a complete success and I hope everyone else enjoyed it as much as I did!” – Tanner (Ecology Club Co-Vice President)
“It was my first year in Ecology Club and planning the dinner was really fun. It was a really successful, fun community event with good food and awesome music.” – Rachel (Ecology Club Member)
“The dinner was a hit for me because our club raised a lot for a great cause. The food and music was great as well.” – Frank (Ecology Club Member)
“The Ecology Club’s Organic Dinner was absolutely delish! I could taste the freshness in every bite of pesto and tomato sauce! The kale salad earned a 5-stare rating from my table. I will most definitely be back again next year!” – Rachel (Student and Customer)
I would like to thank the students for all of their hard work putting on this great event! We raised over $1,400, which will be split between the high school’s Ecology Club and Envirothon Team, the Friends of Pheasant Branch, and of course Growing Food and Sustainability. Also check-out the great article about the dinner featured on the school district’s website!
– Gabrielle
Youth Farm and Finance Director
Solutionaries 