COMMON ROOTS: Nourish to Flourish

COMMON ROOTS: Nourish to Flourish

July 01, 2021
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Photo by Jenn Clifford ---- Happy gardeners eager to taste their harvest

BY FRAN KAHN AND LIZ SPITLER

One day in 2007, Carol McQuillen, an Orchard Elementary School kindergarten teacher, walked past the cafeteria when the packaging for a box of hot dogs caught her eye. It read, “Grade D, but edible.” McQuillen recalled that two years earlier, a group of parents, teachers, school nurses, administrators, and food providers discussed how the five schools in their community of South Burlington were feeding children. The consensus was that students were not being educated about nourishing foods and that the school breakfast and lunch programs were not promoting healthy habits. This hot dog encounter was the final aha moment—when McQuillen decided that something had to change. Schools needed to transform from feeding children substandard meals to nourishing children with high-quality, local food.

During the next year, McQuillen gathered a group of seven dedicated individuals who met weekly for a year and developed a plan. They determined that the South Burlington school budget could not sustain the level of food education, gardens, and farms they felt were necessary to address the problem. Supported by foundations, businesses, and individuals, Common Roots Inc. is an exemplary model of a mission to connect farmers, educators, youth, families, and the wider community to build a sustainable future through farm-to-school education. Now 13 years old, Common Roots, a 501(c)3 nonprofit community organization, has grown into a thriving, truly expansive organization that serves not only local schools but the surrounding community and beyond.

Whether you are gardening for the first time, building your culinary skills, or just committing to participate in the local food movement, food is a key common denominator in our lives. Learn more about the dynamic mission, programs, and enterprises of Common Roots.

commonroots.org