KIDS FARM is an initiative at Kids Camp encompassing 3 acres of organic vegetables. Half of the produce is sold at-cost in Newark school-based farm stands; one quarter is sold for-profit in suburban restaurants and the remainder feeds the staff and students at Camp.
Kids Corporation has documented childhood hunger, obesity and malnutrition as part of our healthcare and learning-readiness programs over the last decade. By examining over 13,000 Newark elementary school students since 2000, we found an average of 16% were obese and 9% were malnourished. In some semesters the incidence of one or both categories exceeded 30%.
Kids Farm will bring thousands of pounds of fresh produce to Newark, sold at cost, directly to the summer and after-school programs where our health clinic has identified high numbers of children with obesity, hunger and malnutrition.
Kids Farm was developed to promote healthy eating habits in children. Over 4,000 Newark students who visit Kids Camp each year will learn about sustainable farming, healthy food and the ecosystems of agriculture.
This project has provided additional documentation in a Microsoft Word file (projdoc.doc).
