Burgerville has announced a new program that will benefit Portland, Ore., schools by raising money to support school gardens. Burgerville's new Grilled Coho Salmon Sandwich is being sold to benefit Eat. Think. Grow., a sponsored project of the Portland Schools Foundation.
There are more than 40 edible community learning gardens at Portland Public Schools, and the goal is for every PPS school to have a garden. These gardens are aimed at supporting the development of children by using school garden curriculum to integrate the physical, social and academic learning environments.
"These gardens help connect kids with their food supply, giving them a greater understanding of the benefits of supporting local agriculture and sustainable food systems," Colwell said.
Areas of focus of the program include cafeteria and school food environment, integrating garden-based and nutrition education into the classroom, and access to school gardens and local destination farms.
The Grilled Coho Salmon sandwich was developed by Burgerville in honor of Cynthia Nims, chef, cookbook author, food writer and editor. Nims selected Eat. Think. Grow. as the beneficiary of the Burgerville sandwich after meeting with Colwell at the International Association of Culinary Professionals annual conference in April.
"Giving children access to edible gardens is empowering. It teaches children how food plays a role in their health and wellness, it creates a deeper understanding of where their food comes from, and children can really see how food production plays a crucial role in their lives and their community," said Cathy Miller, Burgerville's Director of Marketing.
The Grilled Coho Salmon Sandwich features wild-caught Alaskan Coho Salmon from fisheries that are certified sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and is listed as a best choice/coded green on the MSC Pocket Good Fish Guide. The salmon, a regional food, is processed by Odyssey Seafood in Seattle.
To learn more about Eat. Think. Grow., visit http://eatthinkgrow.pps.k12.or.us/.
