Big Green

A nonprofit organization

Join Big Green today and connect kids to Real Food! In partnership with donors like you, we are ushering in the cultural shift needed to nurture community through the access to fresh, nutritious food.

Testimonials

"For us, it's been a really great way to get kids involved in the community. Not just planting seeds and watching plants grow from seeds, but also learning about what we can do with that food, and its ties into our culinary program, and learning how to better the community. We offer what we pull at the end to the entire staff and faculty and parents that might be in the building. It's been a great way for them to learn not just about gardening, but also about service."

"What I like best is the energy it brings to learning. The students go out; their energy level really picks up. Their excitement about learning really picks up, and the connections really start to take place."

"It is a great opportunity. The garden encourages cross curricular dialogue and an emphasis on healthy choices."
-Mountain Vista Elementary, Colorado Springs

"Our new learning garden is a bright focal point in our new playgrounds. Students check on the progress of our cold crops daily and look forward to planting in the spring."
-University Park, Denver

"Our principal, Rebecca Zachmeier, was extremely impressed with the overwhelming support from students and families in the construction of our garden. The out-pour of support has motivated us in planning more school betterment/community building projects. Students are also very eager to begin planting (although it's still just the beginning of winter) and are especially excited about the idea of incorporating food they grow into their school cafeteria."
- Cowell Elementary, Denver

"I swear, the kids will eat ANYTHING that grows in our Learning Garden."
- Pioneer Elementary, Lafayette

"Big Green's commitment to the success of their School Learning Garden program has allowed our garden to grow and flourish as a teaching tool, a production garden, and as a beautiful green space for our school and our neighborhood."

Mission

Big Green connects kids across the country to Real Food through a nationwide network of Learning Gardens and Food Literacy Programs. Learning Gardens are hands-on learning environments and experiential play-spaces with vegetables that help reverse trends in childhood obesity, improve academic performance, and strengthen communities. Learning Gardens catalyze community-wide behavioral improvements in childhood nutrition, socialization, and student achievement in underserved neighborhoods across the country. They are designed to be a place in which kids want to learn and teachers want to teach, thereby creating a long-term, positive investment for the school and the community. To date, Big Green has built 80 Learning Gardens in Colorado and are working towards 100 by end of 2020!

Background Statement

Big Green is a non-profit organization dedicated to connecting kids to Real Food through a nationwide network of Learning Gardens and Food Literacy Programs. We build Learning Gardens in schools, adding outdoor classrooms and community gathering places that connect kids to real food and empower them to make healthier food choices. Learning Gardens are the platform from which we leverage the power of real food so that every child will have the opportunity to learn, play, and grow in a healthy community.

Big Green CEO and co-founder Kimbal Musk is an entrepreneur, restaurateur, and the father of three children who have always had access to a school garden. He embraces the many studies showing that children who have had access to school gardens show increased preference for nutritious foods, develop healthier responses to stress, and improve their academic performance. Recognizing that the school environment is uniquely positioned to catalyze long-term change, and unsatisfied with the rate of adoption of traditional school gardens, Kimbal co-founded Big Green to provide scalable outdoor classrooms called Learning Gardens.

Alongside our community of supporters, we seek to create a dramatic shift in the following areas:

• Strengthen communities, creating opportunities to come together in a safe and nurturing environment. We believe that spending time outdoors, cultivating a healthy relationship with real food, and sharing in the responsibilities of caring for the Learning Garden provides a platform on which communities can gather.

• Improve the health of children and their families, by helping them plant a productive school garden-creating meaningful exposure and preference for fresh fruits and vegetables.

• Increase student engagement and achievement by providing teachers with the tools and skills they need to use the Learning Garden as an outdoor classroom and laboratory. Their students in turn have more opportunities for experiential learning and holistic development.

Big Green helps schools easily plant a school garden that also serves as a dynamic outdoor classroom, maximizing space efficiency and giving students ample exposure to the lifecycle of fruits and vegetables so that the next time they see them in the cafeteria, they'll be more likely to take, taste, and enjoy them.

Organization Data

Summary

Organization name

Big Green

other names

Big Green, The Kitchen Community, Inc.

Year Established

2011

Tax id (EIN)

27-5083595

Category

Food, Agriculture & Nutrition

Organization Size

Large Organization

Address

3216 Tejon St #100
Denver, CO 80211

Service areas

Denver County, CO, US

Other

770-842-1510

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