Garden School Foundation » Garden School Foundation

Garden School Foundation

GSF at 24th Street:The incredible 1.5-acre edible garden at 24th Street is GSF’s original site, where we put down our roots as an organization in 2005. Together with an additional Circle Garden for reading and a Native Oak Woodland habitat, the 24th Street gardens include over 60 fruit trees, 35 productive vegetable beds, shade trees, and native plantings. 24th Street is also home to the innovative Cafeteria to Compost Program. At the lunch tables every day, we’re gathering unwanted cafeteria food and safely redistributing it to students, then diverting over 1,000 lbs. of food waste a month to compost, allowing us to nurture our garden beds with homemade soil. We currently employ a paid team of 24th St. parents and interns each semester to help with the lunchtime collection process and compost making operations. 

 

Want to get involved? We host monthly Community Garden Days where school families and volunteers get together to maintain the garden, enjoy demos and a free farmer's market, and share a meal. 

What's growing in the garden
Mission Statement: Garden School Foundation provides in-depth garden-based education to youth in Los Angeles, strengthening connections between food justice, environmental stewardship, and community health. By using the full transformative potential of school gardens as teaching sites we nurture a healthy and mindful generation of children that care for their bodies, their communities, and the earth. As part of our Seed to Table program, kinder through 5th-Grade students alternate between science-based gardening and nutritional cooking classes. Classes are every other week with daily recess access to the garden and various after school garden clubs. We currently serve eight Title I elementary schools, reaching over 3,000 students and their families each year.