Trumansburg Elementary School was selected as one of 50 award winners from a pool of more than 3,000 inspiring applicants for the 2013 Subaru Healthy Sprouts Garden Grants administered by the National Gardening Association and funded by Subaru of America. Trumansburg Elementary School is one of three to receive a $1,500 Grand Prize. The Food Studies Institute submitted the proposal to continue and expand its vision of the school garden as an outdoor lab integrated with the Food is Elementary curriculum. According to the National Gardening Association, the Trumansburg garden program was selected “because of the exceptional nature of the work you are doing to enhance the lives of youth and the community in your area. The application you submitted provided a combination of clearly stated goals, organized planning for your garden, well developed plans for incorporating health and nutrition into the curriculum. We are delighted to have this opportunity to support your garden education program and we are excited to hear how your program uses the award to enhance the experience of students and participants.”

The Trumansburg Elementary School garden education program is run by the Food Studies Institute and Dr. Antonia Demas together with the Food is Elementary nutrition education program. Being a top winner of this long standing program highlights the important work that the Food Studies Institute, Dr. Demas and the Trumansburg Central School District are doing together.

The Trumansburg Elementary School garden education program will be featured in the Kids Garden News, a publication of the National Gardening Association, in the near future. The award will provide a variety of gardening supplies so that different cultivation techniques can be experimented with in the garden.