Whole Kids Awards $1.75M to Schools and Nonprofits To Grow 583 Edible Gardens Serving More Than 290,000 Students

AUSTIN, Texas, August 15, 2024 /3BL/ - Whole Kids, a Whole Foods Market Foundation project focused on improving children’s health and wellness through their nutrition, announced today that 583 garden grants will be awarded to schools and nonprofit organizations to start or expand edible learning spaces. The project is awarding $1.75 million in Whole Kids Garden Grants to support more than 290,000 students in 50 U.S. states, Washington D.C., and 9 Canadian provinces.

Whole Kids' Garden Grant program provides $3,000 grants to K-12 schools to support educational gardens on school grounds. Additionally, nonprofit recipients offering children’s programming are funded to support edible learning spaces in non-school environments such as community gardens, libraries, museums, and after-school programs.

“Through the Whole Kids’ Garden Grant program, schools and nonprofit organizations transform outdoor spaces into vibrant hands-on outdoor classrooms that connect kids with food, spark curiosity, and get them excited about fresh vegetables and fruits,” said Carol Medeiros, Executive Director of Whole Foods Market Foundation. “We are encouraging meaningful learning experiences that help grow the next generation of healthy eaters.”

Research shows that students who participate in gardening, nutrition, and cooking classes eat more vegetables per day than they did before the program. Edible gardens also support a wide range of classroom curriculums including science, nutrition, math, and art.

The program is one of Whole Kid’s longest-running annual grants and has provided $20 million to support more than 8,500 edible gardens benefiting over 5.5 million students since 2011.

In partnership with The Bee Cause Project, Whole Kids is also accepting applications for their Bee Grant Program beginning September 4, 2024. These grants allow for schools and nonprofit organizations to receive support for educational beehives and bee programming so students can observe bees up close and learn about the vital role pollinators play in the food system.

For more information on the Whole Kids Garden Grant program including eligibility and success stories, visit wholekids.org. To discover grant partners in specific locations, visit the Grant Recipients Database. The next grant application window will open in February of 2025.

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About Whole Kids  
Whole Kids supports schools and inspires families to improve children’s health and wellness through their nutrition in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. Whole Kids is a project of Whole Foods Market Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit based in Austin, Texas. For more information on Whole Kids’ school programs including school gardens, salad bars, beehives, school lunch transformation, and nutrition education for teachers and staff, visit wholekids.org. For ongoing news and updates, follow Whole Foods Market Foundation on Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter) or LinkedIn.

Media Contact: 

Nikki Newman Sobhani, Senior Communications Manager  
Whole Foods Market Foundation