Getting students excited about local food at Fitch Street Public School
Posted: July 6, 2026
Categories: nourish to flourish
Fitch Street Public School is an elementary school located in Welland, Ontario. We have a student population of 540 and growing! We are located in the heart of Niagara with many farms and farmers’ markets within a short drive.
Despite our proximity to local producers, many of our students didn’t realize the variety of produce that is locally grown. To help highlight this, our grant allowed us to place a large strawberry order with one of our local markets. The students in our primary and junior grades were treated to some fresh, local strawberries as part of our annual Chippawa Park play day. Our students couldn’t believe how delicious these strawberries tasted! Not surprising given that local and fresh is best. Students were aware that I had purchased and prepped the strawberries for that day and I had more than a few students run up to me to tell me they “loved them!”
We have also set aside some grant funds for the upcoming school year as we faced some challenges due to ongoing construction at the school so weren’t able to do everything we had planned this school year. In the upcoming school year, the plan is to use a portion of the money for raised garden beds. Since the strawberries were such a hit, we are going to try growing some next spring as they would be ready to eat before the school year ends. The hope is that as students are exposed to gardening and learn some skills, not only may we be able to expand the program, they may even be inspired to try some gardening at home!
Additionally, some of the grant money went towards purchasing some equipment for our kitchen. This was helpful for us as we no longer had a toaster for prepping some of the bread products (bagels, etc.) for our Nutrition Program. With the recent construction that included an additional 9 classrooms and our growing population, we will also be able to purchase another freezer/fridge to support our Nutrition Program. This will allow us to offer more fresh food options and allow us to keep our frozen items safely frozen.
Overall, the “nourish to flourish” grant has allowed us to think a little ‘outside the box’ in terms of how we can engage students in learning about and producing healthy foods. The experience of growing food and eating what was produced also ties in to several curriculum areas for a variety of grades. We can’t wait to see what the upcoming year holds!