Nourish Farms, the last organization in Sheboygan County focused on food education, is facing significant challenges as state and federal funding cuts impact their ability to partner with local schools.
"Normally, I don't eat vegetables, but when I bake them into things, they're delicious," said one student participating in Nourish Farms' programs.
This nonprofit in Sheboygan Falls educates the community, especially local students, on food—from seedling to harvest, to helping them make healthy choices and prepare nutritious meals.
"It's critical that kids have familiarity with foods. It builds healthy formation around what we do three times a day, ideally," said Ryan Laswell, Executive Director of Nourish Farms.
While demand for Nourish's services has increased by over 400% in recent years, schools no longer have the funding to continue these educational partnerships.
Watch: Funding cuts threaten last youth nutrition education program in Sheboygan County
Jason Jaeckels, a teacher in the Plymouth School District, has seen the program's benefits firsthand. "As a parent, I have a student who has benefited from Nourish's programming at our local elementary schools," Jaeckels said. "Every time Nourish comes to visit, that's definitely something she talks about."
Jaeckels and Plymouth High School senior Ashley Miller visited Nourish Farms to gather information for a composting project they hope to launch at their elementary school.
"I remember the field trips specifically to places like these, getting our hands on something, getting our hands in the dirt. It was more memorable," Miller said.
The organization focuses on preventive health intervention through nutrition education. "Lifestyle-related disease...high blood sugar, high blood pressure, heart disease, even cancer, it doesn't discriminate based on income," Laswell said.
The funding challenges extend beyond school partnerships. "In general, we're seeing private donations go down because there's economic uncertainty," added Katie Bartelt.
Bartelt, who began as a volunteer before joining the Nourish staff, emphasized the program's impact. "Impactful for me in my 20s. I can only imagine how impactful it is for those youth.. We see that day in and day out."
Despite these challenges, Nourish remains committed to educating local children, though community donations are now its primary funding source.
"It's more important now than ever for kids to have access to that nutrition education," Bartlet said.
Laswell concluded: "When they're not empowered to have those skills and participate in that, it's a recipe for disaster."
For more information or to donate to Nourish, go to nourishfarms.org.
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