Springdale Park Elementary gets down on the farm — and market

Springdale Park Elementary and Sodexo-Jackmont on Wednesday hosted the first-ever Farm to Market Fair in Atlanta Public Schools. The fair’s goal: connect students with the source of their food, nutrition and the environment. All SPARK students had the opportunity to visit several stations on a fall, sunny day in the courtyard.

At the Whole Foods station, students sampled fresh fruit and hummus. Sodexo’s professionally trained chefs prepared homemade, whole wheat sweet potato bread. The Seed-n-Feed station provided a hands-on demonstration on composting and worm farming. Farmer D Organics assisted students with planting radishes using organic soil and seeds.

The school’s cool barnyard buddies made their SPARK debut at Farmer Sue‘s (pictured) petting zoo station. They included chickens, ducks and goats. A special thank-you to APS Dietician Laura Lowe, Sodexo-Jackmont, Whole Foods, Farmer D Organics, Farmer Sue, Seed-n-Feed, Teresa Groshans, Leanne Bokinskie, Allison Jones, Ashley Rouse, and the many parent volunteers who made this event a success.