Food for Life Program at Holden Christian Academy

Holden Christian Academy
Food for Life

“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and finish his work.” John 4:34

One of the greatest gifts we can give our children is the knowledge of how to live life to its fullest according to God’s Word. Too many of us are limited in our vocational, recreational, emotional, and sometime spiritual lives because of poor health choices that began early in life. At HCA we want to help children establish informed, healthy habits that will provide a firm foundation for long, productive lives. The PK-8th Food for Life Program we offer has three components:
1. Nutrition
2. Gardening
3. Fitness

Our goal is that by the time they graduate from HCA in 8th grade they would have a solid understanding of and skills necessary to

• make wise daily choices in basic nutrition.
• operate an organic garden and greenhouse
• produce a variety of healthy food and prepare delicious meals
• make wise lifelong choices in the area of fitness/exercise.
• share their knowledge with others, possibly on the mission field.

During the first three years of the program the students have helped to design and build a beautiful garden comprised of 20 raised beds arranged in an intricate geometric pattern. Each spring they also helped to plan and plant a wide variety of vegetables, fruit, herbs and flowers. They then nurtured the garden throughout the growing season. Once ready to pick the students learned to harvest and prepare interesting and delicious recipes from the food they have grown! Gardening, cooking, and food preservation techniques are integrated into our curriculum at every level.

Every year each grade is assigned one garden related topic to research together. They then become the resident experts on that topic for the school. The topics include butterflies, weeds, bugs, water cycles, worms, plant anatomy, pollinators, soil and plant diseases and organic remedies.

A beautiful outdoor classroom was built in the fall of 2012 by dedicated volunteers and a little help from students. It is located near the garden and will not only provide an outstanding venue for learning but also provide shade, room for storage and a water source as well. We look forward to fully utilizing it in the spring of 2013!