This year, New Hampshire Farm to School and the Indigenous NH Collaborative Collective are highlighting local, indigenous crops with the Indigenous NH Harvest Calendar curriculum. The curriculum is divided up into four seasons and also follows the Abenaki method of measuring time, the 13 Moon calendar. For each season, different ingenious food sources are highlighted as well as recipes and activities.
Some of these may already be a familiar sight in your school garden or around campus—others, a new learning opportunity for your students. We love the book’s background on each harvest, the inclusion of nutritional information, as well as the crop’s historical context. We also
Farm to School programming is rooted in the land, yet too often the history and stories of those who have lived here (wherever “here” may be) for millennia are overlooked. By teaching their history and elevating their work, we remind students of a Native American culture that is still thriving today. This naturally leads to larger lessons of history and modern-day social justice issues. This deepens the curriculum and, by using indigenous foods as a vehicle for talking about these more difficult topics, gives students the opportunity to connect on an individual level.
We’d love to hear from you if you try out any of the recipes or activities with your students! Send stories and pictures to farmtoschool@foodconnects.org.