The Teaching Garden

Barbara’s not only produces delicious natural and organic foods but is also dedicated to providing the youth in our communities with the tools they need to learn about and connect to the wonders of the natural world around them.

We created a ten-year, $50,000 grant program to establish organic teaching gardens in the Petaluma, California School District. These dynamic outdoor classrooms encourage our youth to become stewards of the land while also teaching them about making healthy nutritional choices. Our commitment to teaching gardens helps build “green” communities.

Chef Ann Cooper ’s
“The Lunch Box Project”

Chef Ann Cooper became a force for change in America’s school lunchrooms with the publication of her 2006 book, Lunch Lessons: Changing the Way We Feed Our Children. Chef Ann’s passion to provide the healthiest food for kids in schools inspired her to establish The Lunch Box Project (www.thelunchbox.org).

Barbara’s is a proud partner in Chef Ann’s work to provide a free online toolkit for school lunch staff across America. We all need to work together for our children’s sake to bring to life Chef Ann’s vision of reformed, healthy school food in all U.S. school districts.

To learn more about what you can do to take action and help improve our kid’s school lunch programs visit www.lunchboxadvocates.org.

Barbara’s Millennium Program

Ten years ago, Barbara’s made a commitment to pay non-profit organizations for every hour of employee volunteer community service. The “Millennium Program” has logged thousands of employee hours in the service of education, the environment, children and community support services in the San Francisco Bay area.

Turns out that there is healing power in helping others: Volunteering leads to better physical, emotional and spiritual health, according to a study by the Corporation for National and Community Service. Barbara’s knows that strong communities require the vital skills volunteers offer.