Bridging the Gap from Farm to Table

Words by Anna Lee Vaughn | Images by Ryan McGill

What is our role in the food system? Where does food come from, and how much effort does it take to get food on the table?

At the Camp McDowell Farm School, students learn the answers to these questions and many more as they experience the entire farm-to-table process, from planting crops and raising animals to harvesting and preparing food in the kitchen.

The Farm School was established to inspire curiosity, teach problem-solving, and empower students to make connections between the farm and the food on their table. When visiting the school, students in grades 1-12 spend time on a five-acre working farm to learn about human impact on our true food source nature and how we should take care of it.

"We're all connected in different ways, and what we do impacts everything and everyone around us, including the environment," says Scotty Feltman, Director of Camp McDowell Farm School. "Food is one thing that truly connects everybody."

From regenerative agriculture to animal husbandry, students learn about the plants and animals that feed us. Regenerative agriculture, composting, and cover-cropping replenish the ground's nutrients after a harvest. replenish the ground's nutrients after a harvest. Animal husbandry involves interacting with cows, chickens, pigs, and goats, and learning how they contribute to our meals.

Scotty emphasizes the importance of caring for these resources past the surface level. While healthy soil is the key to growing crops, many outside sources affect it, and these connections run deeper than they may appear. Which crops do we plant, and at what time of year? How do animals affect the soil, and how do animals' characteristics affect how we care for them? Each question encompasses a different aspect of raising food and how every process is intertwined.

One of Scotty's biggest challenges is explaining to children that the animals they interact with will be processed and turned into food. "That's a big disconnect, for kids to realize this living organism is now going to be bacon or sausage. And then they realize somebody has to kill these animals, and the food doesn't just easily show up on their plates," he says. "But we don't distance ourselves from the animals because we're going to eat them. We still give the animals as much care as possible."

Scotty implements an all-natural gardening approach, using no herbicides, pesticides, or other chemicals, and experimenting with different ways to till the soil and preserve the organisms that make soil nutrient-rich.

"I think a lot of people have been doing things very similar to this where they're mimicking nature as much as they can. As a society, we kind of got away from it to scale up production, which is understandable. But I think a lot of stuff gets lost in that," says Scotty.

The farm school grows around 10,000 pounds of vegetables annually, not to mention the eggs, pork, and beef raised and harvested. Once students experience the different aspects of the farm, like milking goats, feeding pigs, or working in the garden, they gather their reapings and learn to prepare the food in the kitchen.

Aside from camp cooking classes and meals, the foods raised on the farm go toward composting, CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), and the Episcopalian Food Pantry in Jasper, located at St. Mary's Episcopal Church.

Through student participation and a vision to inspire curiosity, the Camp McDowell Farm School accomplishes the goal of helping students make the connections between farm and table, driving home the message that nature affects us, and we affect nature. When we spend time pouring into the natural resources around us, they give back.

From farm to table, this simple truth remains and should never be taken for granted. 78