The Garden Project

This collaboration is with the Berry Good Food Foundation, a nonprofit committed to building bridges between farmers, chefs, scientists, and citizens to challenge the industrial food system while advocating for access to healthy food for all.

Each year, Berry Good hosts a major fundraising dinner that generates money for grants awarded to San Diego County schools that teach the benefits of sustainable agriculture and healthy eating.

Selected schools benefit from involvement with the San Diego County Farm Bureau and local master gardeners. Students participate in the hands-on gardening maintenance required to produce an abundant harvest of vegetables.

Then, the schools call Chefs de Cuisine to work with students to prepare healthy meals fresh from the garden. Our professional chefs, accompanied, whenever possible, by local culinary students, work to create an interactive environment around the development of a great-tasting, vitamin-rich offerings.

There are times when the harvest is not as bountiful as hoped for. But thanks to an arrangement with Specialty Produce, a top local produce wholesaler, additional vegetables are supplied to ensure adequate samples for all the students. 

School closures and restrictions on in-person instruction in 2020, have resulted in this popular program being put on hiatus. The Education Foundation and the Berry Good Food Foundation are anxious for a return to the good earth in the coming year.