About Urban Vegecation
Urban Vegecation gets kids excited about good, healthy food. In our Classroom Gardening and Cooking Program, chef volunteers are paired with elementary school classrooms (grades 1-3 for the primary program, 4-6 for the intermediate) to give students hands-on experience growing and cooking their own food.
How it Works
For Kids!
- Over the course of three and a half fun filled months, the vegecators visit your classroom every two weeks, helping you and your classmates plant and tend to indoor vegetable gardens.
- We present you you with challenging games, fun lessons, and awesome activities focusing on plant growth, local and urban farming and nutrition.
- You harvest your own vegetables, and the chefs teach you to cook your own delicious, healthy meals with what you grow!
How it Works
For Teachers
Interested in getting an Urban Vegecation team into your classroom? Sign up now for our classroom program! You can also see our list of participating schools from past years.
- The Urban Vegecation Classroom Gardening and Cooking Program begins every year after spring break.
- A team of three to four volunteers is paired with your class. The volunteers meet with you prior to their first classroom visit.
- You receive a Teacher’s Kit that outlines the program and provides you with copies of handouts and extension and integration lessons.
- The primary program (Grades 1-3) begins after spring break and volunteers visit your class every two weeks from late March through June, for a total of seven visits.
- The intermediate program (Grades 4-6) begins mid-September and volunteers will visit your class every two weeks, for a total of 7 lessons, until early December.
The Program
For Kids!
- As Urban Vegecation mentors you and your classmates and help you to grow a vegetable garden, we lead the class through a series of lessons.
- On our first visit, we help you and your classmates plant an indoor window sill garden comprised of fast-growing vegetables.
- Each lesson uses a combination of discussions, games, and activities to cover themes including urban farming, vegetable exploration, cooking, nutrition, garden crafts, and foods from around the world.
The Program
For Teachers
- The Classroom Gardening and Cooking Program is available in the spring to grades 1-3 for the primary program and in the fall to grades 4-6 for the intermediate program.
- The lessons integrate with provincial classroom curriculum for a variety of subjects, including math, science, and art.
- A fee of $400.00 per classroom goes towards seeds and soil, seeding flats and pots, gardening tools, books, cooking supplies, program administration, and lesson materials.
Testimonials
From Kids!
"I only liked meat and I hated vegetables, but Urban Vegecation made cool and creative ways to have vegetables and make it taste good." - Harry
"I never knew how to use a knife before Urban Vegecation taught me (like actually). Also I never knew making salad would be easy. We made Greek salad!" - Kelly Kim
"Another activity we did was how tomatoes come to Canada from Mexico. Basically, we made a big circle, we had a tomato card. We passed it around and read out lout the processes. I got to know how tomatoes are traveling and how beneficial community gardens are." - Harry
Testimonials
From Teachers
"Thanks for selecting my class for the pilot project. It was a wonderful experience for the students and they learned new skills. They're also starting to think about healthy eating, where their food comes from and growing their own food. I appreciate the time, effort and dedication you put into the Urban Vegecation Program. It's an invaluable program to the Toronto students."
Sylvia Seto. Grenfell Elementary School.
“The greatest success of the Urban Vegecation program is the students’ excitement about food.”
Christine Uchida, Grade 3/4 Teacher, Champlain Heights Elementary.
Hey Kids!
Tell Your Teacher About Us!
Want the Urban Vegecation team to come to your class?
Tell your teacher to visit us at www.urbanvegecation.org to find out how they can sign your class up!
Want us to come to your house?
Urban Vegecation also conducts private programs. Are you a kid? Tell your parents about us! Are you a parent? Sign up now!
Are You a Teacher?
Sign Up Your Class!
Interested in getting the Urban Vegecation team into your classroom? Sign up now!
Please note that our spring program is for Gr. 1-3 and our fall program for grade 4-6. We currently do not have a program for Kindergarten classes.
The program runs in the spring from late March through to June (it starts just after spring break) and in the fall mid-September to December. The volunteers will visit your class every two weeks for a total of 7 visits and will bring all the required gardening and cooking materials. Read more about how the program works and what to expect.
There is a program fee of $400 to help with our costs. However, we do have subsidies and scholarships available to schools that are unable to pay that fee. We never turn a class away because they can't afford it!
Donate
For the Kids!
Help Urban Vegecation give kids hands-on experience growing and eating healthy, sustainable food. Your gift helps us create lifelong healthy eaters.
Your gift helps Urban Vegecation:
- Increase nutritional awareness, reduce childhood obesity, and improve physical health among children by inspiring them to try new foods and providing basic cooking lessons
- Provide children who may not have access to green spaces and healthy food with firsthand experience growing and cooking their own vegetables
- Create a deeper connection between children and their food and teach them how their choices affect their community, health, and environment
- Plant easy-to-grow, accessible indoor gardens
- Address the growing challenges with food security in our community through hands-on education
Donate
For Yourself!
Join our Veggie Friends Club and keep our gardens growing! Your monthly gift will provide a consistent, reliable, and predictable source of funding. This sustainability allows us to plan ahead and implement our hands-on programs more efficiently. It also lowers administrative costs.
- Your gift is easy, secure, and green—a monthly donation saves paper, postage, and energy
- You ensure your gift has the greatest possible impact
- You will get special updates from the classroom from our participating students
- You get to be a Veggie Friend. (A most delicious type of friend!)