News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Prescott Middle School continues to participate in the Get Food Smart TN food waste initiative. TDEC announced the school in the programs first round of participants.
Trey Upchurch is the principal of Prescott Middle School.
“It was honestly exciting, obviously because of the places we were looped in with,” Upchurch said. “There were a couple other large organizations in downtown Nashville that provide food for the homeless, and to even be mentioned with that group is pretty impressive.”
Prescott Middle has a wide range of programs at the school to educate children on food waste, including composting, Upchurch said.
Upchurch said the school started its programs with Casey Garrison, a STEM teacher at Prescott.
“So some of the positive movements we’ve made are doing away with our styrofoam plates and we have gone back to the old hard trays,” Upchurch said. “And we have also put in a process where students throwaway cartons, plastic and other things in trash cans on their way to put their silverware and their trays up.”
Prescott Middle grows vegetables in their school greenhouse. The school started composting for the greenhouse, Upchurch said.
“So we are hoping that by the end of next school year that we are providing a large amount of food to the cafeteria,” Upchurch said. “We are actually doing a small amount but the composting is going to go a long way to help that simply because we will be able to grow more food based off having that compost available as fertilizer.”
Prescott uses the food grown in the greenhouse to feed the students. The students get to have a hands-on experience with their food, Upchurch said.
“This year alone we have served carrots, we have served lettuce. There has been a number of things that we have sent to the cafeteria that they have used,” Upchurch said. “Which, for the kids, these are kids who have grown up in a digital age. To have an opportunity to have their hands in the dirt, and to actually be a part of what goes on at the school to that level, I mean, it has got to be pretty amazing.”
Upchurch said the school will continue to add new programs and expand the programs Prescott already uses.
“It has grown into something pretty big, no pun intended there, grew into something big, but honestly it’s going to get larger in a very short amount of time.”
