ST. LOUIS — Two vans with eager children pulled up to a home with an urban farm attached in the West End neighborhood Thursday.
This is the first year Leah Burnett is putting on a summer camp under her nonprofit Growing Food Growing People, which was a dream that grew out of Burnett's backyard.
For six weeks, Burnett will teach kids about growing food and tending to the land where it is grown.
"Half of the day we are tending to the land, the other half of the day we are incorporating Lincoln University's curriculum which focuses really heavily on STEM," she said.
On Thursday, 12 campers exercised indoors, participated in ice breakers and attended a garden meeting before they got their tools and moved outside to the farm. Some sprayed soil while others held chickens and rabbits on the property.
"They just need to know where their food comes from," Burnett said. "They need to know the importance of growing their own food. Tending to the land. Respecting the land. Expecting animals that co-exist on the land."
Throughout the remainder of the year, Growing Food Growing People gardens and gives away free produce to the community. There are also classes available for women to learn how to lay into the land.
Burnett made it clear that this experience was to uplift future generations
"I want them to know that they are needed, on the earth in this world, to help maintain the land and to help us produce new things," Burnett said.
The St. Louis farmer hopes to expand her camp and hire more staff to support the effort.
5 On Your Side's Travis Cummings will emcee the Growing Good UnGala in September.