Some people think about food constantly throughout day, while others rarely give a thought to their next meal or where the food comes from. Some people recognize and appreciate the fact that the food before them took planning and hard work, while others have never considered their food's history prior to its life on the supermarket shelf. The young adults who attend the Hershey Montessori School Adolescent Program at a farm in eastern Geauga County know far more about the food they eat than does the average person, and the knowledge they gain from their experiences around their food education will be applied throughout their lives.

Located approximately one hour east of Cleveland, the Adolescent Program is a farm, boarding and day school for students ages 12-15. A program of Hershey Montessori School in Concord Township, Ohio – an Association Montessori Internationale (AMI) school established in 1978 – the Ado-lescent Program is guided by Maria Montessori's vision of a farm-based community in which students – through participation in surrounding rural life and commerce – experience practical roles that integrate and engage academic studies while building a greater connection to society and the world. The school serves approximately 50 local, national and international students in grades seven through nine and works to reflect the words of Maria Montessori that “edu-cation should, therefore, include the two forms of work, manual and intellectual, for the same person, and thus make it understood by practical experience that these two kinds complete each other and are equally essential to a civilized existence.”

The students share the farm with a flock of sheep, a few dairy goats, a dairy cow, a beef cow, several hives of honey bees, pigs and a flock of chickens.

The farm at the Hershey Montessori School has a work and study process that emerges from direct contact with the land. The 97 acres of woods and farm provide a rich setting. Activities within these habitats lead the students toward a limitless study of science (land management, ecology, biology and chemistry), mathematics (accounting, geometry and algebra), civilization, economic systems, physics, energy, environmental issues and technology. Activities on the land are the points of departure for formal studies, but the educational syllabus goes well beyond immediate academic extensions that arise out of this work.

The farm experience is an exercise in social independence, teaching lessons of self-sufficiency while at the same time providing goods and services to the community. It provides the highest expectations of challenge in both academic and social development, appealing to the very different contributions each individual adolescent has to offer. Students attending the program are in charge of the practical life and maintenance of the farm, house and grounds. They cook all the meals, have daily chores, and maintain the barns and grounds of the property.

Within this course of study, students become more familiar with cycles of nature and connections to food. The answer to the question, “What's to eat?” might begin in early spring when seeds are planted in the wood-heated bioshelter, an ecologically diverse, year-round greenhouse habitat. As the sun rises higher on the horizon, seedlings for the one-acre organic garden are planted and cultivated, producing a wide variety of tomatoes, beans, squashes, peppers, greens, onions, garlic and other vegetables, all of which are grown in soil that is nurtured and improved using cover crops (plants that improve soil nutrient quality) and composted animal manure from the barns.

In early spring, seeds are planted in the wood-heated bioshelter, an ecologically diverse, year-round greenhouse habitat.

The students share the farm with a flock of sheep, a few dairy goats, a dairy cow, a beef cow, several hives of honey bees, pigs and a flock of chickens. The cow and goats provide milk for cheese and milk-based soap, and the sheep provide wool that the students spin into yarn. The chickens provide eggs, the bees help pollinate the gardens and provide honey, and the pigs and beef cow fill the freezers after appropriate free-range feeding and growth.

Students often refer to the meat that they raise themselves as “happy meat” because the animals have experienced a well-loved, well-cared-for, “happy” life. Prior to filling their plates at meal time, it is common for these young adults to ask if the food was prepared using meat that they feel was raised in humane conditions. Some students choose only to eat meat that they know is “happy.” While the program strives toward self-sufficiency and sustainability, there are limitations to growing all of the food for a community of 60 people. To supplement the home-grown larder, the school purchases additional meat and cheese products from local sources.

As summer approaches, some students look forward to managing the gardens. The abundant harvest is shared with local families in a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. Over summer break, local families help take care of the gardens and, in return, receive some of the diverse abundance for their own kitchens. Students and participants share recipe suggestions, as well as freezing and canning tips. In addition to the CSA program, students also manage a stand at the local Geauga Fresh Farmers' Market in South Russell, which provides a unique opportunity for community involvement and hands-on lessons in economics. In addition to vegetables and eggs, students sell handmade items from the farm such as wooden cutting boards, note cards, goat milk soap and maple syrup.

The farm experience provides the highest expectations of challenge in both academic and social development, appealing to the very different contributions each individual adolescent has to offer.

As the first frosts arrive in the fall, the gardens are put to rest for winter. The students plant cover crops to help improve the soil as the snow begins to fall. The focus of food turns back toward the bioshelter where they grow greens for fresh winter salads. The students split and stack the last of several cords of wood that help heat the bioshelter and fuel one of the sweetest productions of the year – boiling maple sap into sweet maple syrup. When the sap begins to flow in the sunny days of late winter, the students stay busy making some of the finest maple syrup found in Geauga County. Preferring this syrup for their own breakfast treats, the students also host pancake breakfasts to share the flavor with the local community.

The lessons learned by students at the Hershey Montessori School's Adolescent Program are relatively simple and can be incorporated into almost any lifestyle. You do not have to raise your own meat or boil your own syrup to be involved in the production of food. Simply ask the question, “What's to eat?” and consider the food items in your own food pantry and where they come from. Visit local farmers' markets. Grow a tomato. Ask questions. Think about food. While studies suggest that many people believe that milk comes from a carton and hamburger from plastic wrap, students at the Hershey Montessori School Adolescent Program at the farm think more about their food and their human role in our world.

Rachel McKinney teaches math and science for the Hershey Montessori School Adolescent Program. She helps manage the gardens, market and CSA programs. She has lived on, worked on and managed a variety of sustainable farms since childhood.

Hershey Montessori School Adolescent Program is located at 11530 Madison Road in Huntsburg, Ohio. For more information, call (440) 636-6290 or visit www.hersheymontessori.pvt.k12.oh.us.