Boys & Girls Clubs use garden program to steer kids toward veggie variety

A curious effect takes hold of many Las Vegas Valley children who participate in the Bright Futures Farm and Gardens program.

They go in with an aversion to spinach, kale and other green vegetables, but after planting the seeds and babysitting the plants until harvest, the children welcome them with open arms into their diets, sometimes eating them raw.

"Kids that are exposed to growing and planting their own food are more likely to eat the food versus their parents just buying it at the store," said Alexandra Kosmides, the gardener at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Southern Nevada's John C. Kish Clubhouse, 401 Drake St.

The site recently became the nonprofit's fourth to offer the Farm and Gardens program, thanks to a $15,000 donation from Barclaycard US. CarMax and the nonprofit KaBOOM! also pitched in, paying for and building the 10 raised wooden beds in April, enabling the Boys & Girls Clubs to apply for the money to get the program up and running, said Blake Johnson, associate director of development for the nonprofit.

On Sept. 3, Kosmides and about 30 or 40 children planted the garden's first seeds. The beets, carrots, celery, Swiss chard, garlic, green onions, radishes, spinach, turnips, green beans, pumpkins and watermelon are set to be harvested in 90 to 120 days, Kosmides said.

"I'll be teaching lessons to the kids while everything grows," she said.

Children also planted sunflowers, and in the fall, they're set to plant asparagus.

Program participants are scheduled to take part in weekly sessions with Kosmides as she teaches them about urban agriculture; bees, why they're dying and how to save them; sustainability; and native plants in the Mojave Desert.

The Farm and Gardens program also is offered at the Donald W. Reynolds Clubhouse, 2980 Robindale Road; the Downtown Clubhouse, 2801 E. Stewart Ave.; and the Lied Memorial Clubhouse, 2850 Lindell Road, which includes chickens, as local ordinances allow them.

Curriculum is pulled from the USDA, Green Our Planet and the Whole Kids Foundation websites, Johnson said.

Two more Boys & Girls Clubs sites are slated to have garden programs by the end of the year: the James Clubhouse, 2530 E. Carey Ave., and the Desert Pines Clubhouse, 3750 E. Bonanza Road, said Anne Kerestesi, director of marketing for the organization.

She said startup costs for the program total about $15,000, which includes operational funds for one year.

The Boys & Girls Clubs has 15 locations around the valley and four summer outreach programs, serving more than 21,000 youths ages 5 to 18. The Farm and Gardens program impacts hundreds of children at each site that offers it, Johnson said.

Johnson said the program is beneficial for urban youths, particularly those who live in an arid climate and know little to nothing about growing their own food.

"A lot of this is really transformative for the kids," Johnson said. "A lot of kids don't understand that food comes from the ground. Kids in other states just grow up knowing that stuff."

The program includes lessons in composting, as well as selling harvested vegetables at area farmers markets, Johnson said. Participants regularly offer produce during the summer at the Downtown 3rd Farmers Market, 300 N. Casino Center Blvd., for instance. Most recently, they were slated to sell produce Sept. 10 at UNLV, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway.

In addition, participants learn how to make healthy meals. In fact, healthy habits is something the Boys & Girls Clubs tries to instill in its members, Kerestesi said.

"They learn recipes and how to cook, and we hope they'll bring it back to their families," she said.

Visit bgcsnv.org.

— To reach Henderson View reporter Cassandra Keenan, email ckeenan@viewnews.com or call 702-383-0278. Find her on Twitter: @CassandraKNews.