J.F. Burns Elementary School students are going green and developing a green thumb at the same time.

Fourth-grade teachers are using the Veggie U classroom garden program to teach students about nutrition and the importance of making wise food choices, as well as introduce them to the concept of sustainable agriculture.

“The students need to make choices when they are out to dinner and without their parents supervising, so it is important they understand what they are eating,” explained teacher Sally Healy. “Many of them are removed from where their food comes from and don’t know the growing and harvesting process, so we work on that also.”

The students recently received a box of unusual tasting vegetables from The Chef’s Garden, a sustainable farm growing heirloom and specialty vegetables in Huron.

Over five weeks, the students will get a complete hands-on seed-to-planting-to-harvest experience. The culminating event is a feast day, where they eat vegetables from their garden.

Veggie U’s “Earth to Table” curriculum was inspired by chefs and farmers and developed by a nutritionist, doctor and local educators.

The curriculum is tied directly to state and national science standards. The benchmarks for these standards are included at the beginning of each lesson so that teachers can integrate them into existing curriculum.

Journal activities, mathematics, language arts and fine arts also are incorporated into the curriculum. Classroom lessons include studies of soil, composting, planting, nutrition and plant anatomy. Students also will care for a worm farm and raise a mini crop.

“We have grown food for two years now with this program, and the children do enjoy it so much,” Healy said.

According to the non-profit’s website, Veggie U’s attitude surveys show that participation in the program increases the likelihood that vegetables will remain a healthy choice in the students’ diet.

Funds were made available for the Veggie U classroom garden program at J.F. Burns Elementary through a grant from Chipotle Cultivate funds.