LIBERTY, Ind. — For the second year in a row, Union County High School received a $2,500 Food For All grant from the National FFA. The idea is to go out to the community and teach them about being food sustainable.

“They don’t want us to buy food and give it to people, they want us to teach people how to become food-sustainable,” explained Kari Roberts, Union County High School agricultural educator and Liberty FFA Advisor.

This year, the students raised hybrid bluegill and channel catfish in their aquaculture system in the spring, and did an educational program on raising protein, Roberts said. On Ag Day, they showed third graders how to plant and care for a tomato plant. They also set up a small barnyard and talked with students about the value of livestock. Next, the students planted a community garden.

Levi Byrd, now a senior at the school, got the idea of a community garden when he was a sophomore. The Gleaners Food Bank has a food pantry in the school. He saw how much food they were distributing.

“I thought how much more the community members would benefit if they could learn how to sustain their own food,” Byrd said. “I thought if we could make a community garden, not only would they get fresh produce but it would teach people how to sustain themselves to teach them how to advance in their life. I felt passionate about it.”

Community members helped to plant the 30-foot by 30-foot garden, Byrd said. They planted tomatoes, green beans, cantaloupes, squash, watermelon and more. Students did most of the maintenance.

“As things became ripe, we allowed community members to go out and pick what they wanted,” Byrd said. “I would pick what I saw was ripe and put in the food pantry. The community members that I saw were very grateful and said what a wonderful idea it was.”

Added Roberts: “We had a hard time tracking the amount of food coming out, but based on the plants and what we saw, we would say we definitely grossed over 250 pounds of food from that garden this year.”

The last thing the students did was a canning workshop in the fall, Roberts said. “We taught community members how to can and preserve foods so that when their fresh fruits and vegetables come in season, they know how to can. Then they can have that homegrown fresh flavor and food all year, and not just when it is in season.”

Next year, Levi Byrd will be studying animal sciences at Purdue University. He is hoping to pass on responsibility for the community garden to another student.

“I would love to see it continue on,” Byrd said.