In 2022, Oregon State University Extension Service began training Southern Oregon Head Start’s nutrition services team to use the Harvest for Healthy Kids curriculum to introduce children to new foods while teaching how food grows and where it comes from. The training built staff knowledge and confidence, and teams began adding nutrition activities to family engagement events.
By providing a scalable, low-cost classroom growing model, OSU Extension helped Head Start centers deliver consistent nutrition and garden-based learning even during staffing shortages.
As Southern Oregon Head Start expanded garden infrastructure with Farm to School funding, implementation across centers became mixed. Staffing shortages and turnover made it difficult to maintain outdoor gardens and deliver consistent, hands-on garden activities in classrooms.
Head Start needed a practical, low-barrier way to connect nutrition education with growing experiences that could work reliably across centers despite staffing challenges.
OSU Extension Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed), through its Food Hero initiative, developed a set of gardening education resources designed to be accessible and adaptable for many settings, including classrooms and child care sites.
Resources included planting directions and calendars, subtitled videos, mini lessons, and printable tip sheets in English and Spanish. This provides a fun way for families to increase familiarity with leafy greens, which can lead to children increasing acceptance of eating healthy foods and consuming these foods more often.
Microgreen kits brought growing indoors
Building on those materials, the Family and Community Health Program Extension team in Jackson and Josephine counties created classroom microgreen growing kits so each classroom could run a complete growing experience indoors with minimal setup. Leafy greens provide vitamins A, C, E and K, magnesium, potassium and calcium, which are critical for healthy growth and development.
Each kit included a 12-by-20 growing tray with a greenhouse cover, soil, seeds, a misting bottle, planting and growing directions, activity sheets for children to track growth, digital links to mini lessons and videos, and Food Hero microgreens tip sheets and recipes for parents and guardians in English and Spanish.
All 27 Head Start centers in the counties reported positive feedback about using the microgreen kits and seeing strong student engagement. Teachers highlighted the simplicity and convenience. Everything needed was included in one kit, instructions were straightforward, and the activity could happen entirely in the classroom.
Students were engaged throughout the process, observing rapid germination, taking turns watering, sharing observations and recording growth. Some centers featured their classroom microgreen gardens in end-of-year learning displays, reinforcing the kits’ value as both a nutrition and STEM learning tool.
The microgreen growing kits became a simple, sustainable addition to Southern Oregon Head Start’s nutrition education toolkit. Indoor growing provided a functional alternative when outdoor garden maintenance was inconsistent, while still giving children hands-on experiences with plant growth and food.
Head Start staff also reported that the kits supported better alignment across departments, helping create a more consistent learning experience for children and families.
Public value
Early, positive food experiences can shape lifelong eating habits and support child health. By providing a scalable, low-cost classroom growing model, OSU Extension helped Head Start centers deliver consistent nutrition and garden-based learning even during staffing shortages.
The approach strengthens school readiness through hands-on observation and routines, supports family engagement with bilingual take-home materials, and helps more children connect healthy foods to where they come from.
