Luna Farms: Encouraging youth to dig deep
Luna Farm is a 5-acre space where the planting and work is done by mostly volunteers in a non-profit environment. September 19, 2014. - Edward Newton
The basic idea is to take inner-city youth, mostly underprivileged children from poorer neighborhoods, and get them interested in fruits and vegetables. Many of these kids come for the day on a field trip and get to go home with a full stomach, a new recipe to share with their family, and a good experience.
Others become deeply interested and join the ranks of urban farmers within the city itself. Luna Farm has partnered with West Philadelphia’s UNI (Urban Nutrition Initiative) and other local farms and student groups to mentor these kids and harness their energy into spreading good food and good vibes throughout the community.
Kristin Schwab, 32, the Luna Farm Educational Program Coordinator walks these students through an afternoon of fun that begins with eating snacks, usually fruit and granola, created from the farm. This segways into a talk and demonstration of how exercise not only helps you be healthier but releases chemicals into your body to make you feel happier.
From here, the children make their own lunches using farm ingredients that focus on vegetables. Usually a simple enough dish, such as a grilled cheese or a quesadilla, suddenly becomes a flavorful bonanza in their mouths as they can add any number of fresh ingredients into their meals. The kids usually get excited. They usually haven’t tasted anything like it before. The day then ends with a tour of the farm provided by Hershlag and Schwab that allows the students to see firsthand how much wok, science, and love goes into making good ingredients.
Luna Farm’s goal is to put healthy, local food into the mouths of Philadelphians. Whether, you are a customer at a Garces restaurant ordering a salad or a youth who simply has been given the opportunity to experience more through their school or after-school programs, the former vacation home for a successful local businessman has become a more meaningful and valuable place.
- Matthew Leister
Jose Garces owns ten restaurants in the city Philadelphia area and is a local celebrity chef who has won the Food Network’s Iron Chef contest. He is a huge believer in food and sparing no expense to provide the best ingredients to his customers. Many of his dishes are crafted with products that come from all around the world. It is not uncommon to have a dish with meat from New Zealand, cheese from Spain, and herbs from California. When it comes to produce, Garces likes to shop a little closer to home — his own backyard.
Garces’ family vacation home in Ottsville, Pennsylvania, one of the many places you haven’t heard of in Bucks County, has been converted into a 5-acre farm where you can find eggplant, broccoli rabe, kale, peppers, tomatoes, micro greens, and much more. The farm is managed by Jillian Hershlag, a recent recipient of Zagat’s “30 under 30” honor and considered to be a roc star in the young food industry. This vacation home turned workspace has become known as Luna Farm.
What makes this place something special is not the fact that it provides produce to all of the restaurants on the East Coast of a successful restaurateur. What makes it special, and a Philadelphia institution, is the non-profit work that goes on here.
Luna Farms has teamed up with the Garces Foundation to provide education to the youth of Philadelphia about healthy eating, sustainability, exercise, and even recycling.
Students announce what vegetables they have added to their grilled cheese with enthusiasm as they create new names for their creations such as the “Ballin’ Grilled Cheese.” September 19, 2014. - Matt Leister
Students prepare their own vegetables, including jalapeño peppers, before the cooking process begins. September 19, 2014.
- Matt Leister