Our Mission:
Promoting healthy habits for the whole child
Friends of Great Kids Farm, Inc. (FriendsGKF) is a nonprofit organization created to support, promote and enhance the programming at Great Kids Farm and the district's Farm to School (F2S) programming in general. Friends works with Baltimore City Public Schools (City Schools) to bring the Farm to students and the students to the Farm, providing students hands-on opportunities to connect farm and plate, reinforce curricular concepts, strengthen environmental literacy, and promote healthy habits for the whole child.
I am thrilled about the mission of Friends and value the opportunity to serve alongside others to empower children through education.
– Sadé Newson, Social Services Attorney, MD Department of Human Services
We exist to support the Farm to School Program
Baltimore City Public Schools' Farm to School (F2S) program promotes experiential education that connects students to nature and food systems. In every grade band, these programs and services focus on three core areas:
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Food education for lifelong healthy habits
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Nature-based exploration for wholeness and academic enrichment
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Food system engagement for active citizenship, leadership development, and career skills
Meaningful F2S experiences are transformative for students’ academic success and their social, emotional, and physical wellness. Additionally, they empower youth to understand, engage with, and co-create their food system in ways that can improve food security and sovereignty, while also preparing youth to be systems thinkers and social changemakers.
Since its inception in 2011, Friends has raised well over $1.8 million for the Farm.
Friends raises awareness of the Farm's many contributions to Baltimore City students and raises funds to support its activities. The Farm's programs help kids to:
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Eat well and enjoy nutritious foods
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Learn rigorous academic content
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Experience the joy of learning and the peace of nature
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Develop career skills to help them lead healthy, successful lives
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Connect with and preserve their natural environment
These funds have resulted in educational materials, a work truck, student intern stipends, student transportation to the Farm, student summits, a fence to protect crops, and the newest addition, the Jill Wrigley Outdoor Classroom.
During the 2022-2023 school year, more than 3,000 students visited the Farm and over 4,000 were visited by Farm staff and/or animals at their school. Thousands benefited from the distribution of produce, curriculum, and living educational materials to teachers, allowing them to replicate Farm experiences in their classrooms.
Learn more about how you can contribute to the health, well being, and academic success of Baltimore City students through support of Friends of Great Kids Farm.
Our Commitment to Equity
Friends of Great Kids Farm is dedicated to supporting the equity commitment outlined and implemented by Baltimore City Public Schools in general and Baltimore City Public Schools’ Great Kids Farm specifically. Additionally, Friends is committed to applying an equity lens in the recruitment of new staff and board members, actively recruiting board members who reflect the demographics of our City Schools’ students and who have come through the Baltimore City Public School system. The board is currently made up of 19 members, including 9 BIPOC, 10 Caucasian, 10 women and 9 men.
The City Schools’ Farm to School (F2S) team strives to promote equity in its programming and operations. F2S activities should reflect the equity-centered vision and policy of City Schools and those of the Baltimore City Department of Planning. Our commitment also draws on the National Farm to School Network’s Racial and Social Equity Assessment Tool for Farm to School Programs and Policy, which includes a rubric for assessing F2S initiatives with an equity lens. Please find more specific information regarding the implementation of this policy by clicking below.
