Collective Roots

 Collective Roots is a nonprofit organization founded and based in East Palo Alto, CA. We seek to promote food justice by engaging youth and communities in garden-based learning and nutrition education to positively impact health. Collective Roots achieves its mission through the innovative integration and implementation of two key program areas: school based programs and community based programs.

School Day Lessons:  Collective Roots contracts with schools to provide science and nutrition education during the school day to students in pre-school through high school. Students learn science concepts such as life cycles, weather, and decomposition.  Lessons are based on the California State Science Standards and nutrition science education approved by the California Department of Public Health. We welcome teachers to visit our curriculum library at our office site, and are happy to provide suggestions for curriculum that has worked well for our programs in science, health, nutrition and food systems.

After-school Programs: Collective Roots offers after-school programming to kindergarten through high school students at school and community sites. Students in Collective Roots after-school programs participate in all aspects of maintaining an organic garden, organic meal preparation featuring produce they have grown, and garden related arts, crafts and science.

Community Service and Field Trip Opportunities: Collective Roots regularly welcomes community members for service days, educational visits and field trips. These events included school groups from kindergarten through college, corporate service days, community tours and ecumenical groups. Visits include information about the work of Collective Roots, as well as garden-based education and activities. We are happy to coordinate a service day, field trip and/or educational opportunity for your group. A fee may apply. Please contact volunteer@collectiveroots.org with questions.

Fresh Fest: Fresh Fest is a traveling package of activities, including a 5-week series of cooking/nutrition activities and stand-alone Harvest of the Month programs designed to engage youth in healthy eating, promote physical activity, and provide nutrition education for students in pre-school through high school.  By implementing activities that promote healthy living, Fresh Fest works with schools and community partners to prevent the chronic illnesses associated with poor nutrition and childhood obesity.

Similarly, we engage residents and stakeholders in a full-scale initiative to increase access to fresh, local, healthy and affordable produce through our community based programs. Some of our accomplishments include:

-operating the East Palo Alto Community Farmers’ Market for five successful seasons;

-creating Fresh Checks, an innovative coupon incentive program that makes fresh fruits and vegetables at the EPA Community Farmers Market affordable to low-income families;

-creating The Root Box, a Community Supported Agriculture program operated out of the East Palo Alto Community Farmers Market that provides high quality, local, sustainable produce at an affordable price and supports the existence of the farmers market;

-sponsoring the EPA Backyard Gardener Network, a group that supports the capacity of local residents to grow their own food;

-managing the East Palo Alto Seed Library, a source of free, locally viable organic and heirloom seeds for community members;

-managing the East Palo Alto Tool Lending Library, which includes garden maintenance and food preservation tools that help increase the productivity of local gardeners and longevity of their harvests;

-offering free cooking and nutrition classes for adults and children in partnership with Cooking Matters;

-teaching a series of free monthly gardening workshops;

-managing the Collective Roots Community Garden, the only community garden in East Palo Alto, as well as multiple gardens at community partner sites throughout East Palo Alto