Free School Unterneukirchen

Project: Eat, enjoy and grow consciously

Freie Schule Unterneukirchen is a young school under construction that focuses on collaborative learning and individual support. In addition to traditional learning content, the topic of sustainability plays a major role here – both in the classroom and in daily interactions. With the “Eat, enjoy and grow consciously” project, the school aims to help children experience the connections between nutrition, nature and health. The pupils deal with food in several stages – from cultivation to preparation. They learn how vegetables grow, the importance of regional and organic products and how to process them into healthy, delicious meals. They garden, cook and eat together. This creates an awareness of how closely our food is linked to the environment, climate and well-being. The funding is used specifically to finance excursions to farms, to have a cookbook designed by children printed, to procure organic ingredients for practical units and to improve the equipment in the school garden. With funds for a greenhouse, gardening equipment and building materials for additional beds, the practical learning environment will be strengthened in the long term. The aim is not only to impart knowledge, but also to awaken a lasting desire for conscious nutrition and promote action-oriented skills.

Training association Rhöner Lebensmittel e.V.

Project: Cooking WG in all-day care: saving food – saving lives

The Rhön Food Training Association is a regionally anchored provider of communal catering that combines cost recovery with high product quality and social responsibility. The “KochAG – Essen retten, Leben retten” project brings children in all-day care into direct contact with food origins, preparation and appreciation. Participants learn how dishes are planned, ordered in exact portions and prepared sustainably, and get to know simple food processing techniques. Educationally, the program combines nutritional education with social goals: Appreciation for food, avoidance of waste and orientation for careers in communal catering. The funding is used to finance working hours for the cooking courses, to procure organic ingredients for the practical experiments and to replace or purchase the necessary kitchen equipment. This enables workshops to be offered systematically, the quality and sustainability of the catering to be improved and children to be taught practical, professionally relevant skills.

Social Ecology Association

Project: Summer bakery: Organic bakery meets farm experience

The SozialÖkologie association is expanding its educational program with the “Sommerbackstube”, an extracurricular learning format that combines baking and farm experience. Children experience the journey from grain to bread: from the field to milling to baking in the wood-fired oven and eating together. The program promotes an understanding of regional value creation, ecological production and manual skills. The funding enables the financing of educational fees, farm usage fees and technical rental equipment such as a professional baking oven as well as consumables for the implementation. Travel costs and organizational preparations are also included. The funds will be used to implement an inclusive educational format lasting several days, which will teach children practical skills, sensory experiences and a sustainable relationship with food.

 

BRK Nature Daycare Center Leesten

Project: Creation of raised beds, field, flower meadow, compost and nesting aids

The BRK Naturkita Leesten runs a large outdoor area on the edge of the forest and places particular emphasis on nature-oriented, year-round educational activities. The project aims to expand raised beds, create a potato and cereal field, fence in a flower meadow and install nesting aids and insect drinking troughs. The aim is to integrate biodiversity, the circular economy and food education into the children’s everyday lives. The funding will be used specifically for building materials, high-quality organic soil, peat-free substrates, organic seeds, fencing material and nesting aids, as well as for additional composting areas and small jars for bottling home-made products such as dandelion honey. This creates permanently usable learning spaces where children can experience sowing, care, harvesting and processing in a practical way, develop an understanding of ecological relationships and take on responsibility in a participatory way.

Marburg Waldorf School

Project: Redesign of the school garden and equipment for processing

The Freie Waldorfschule Marburg uses urban garden areas as a central learning space and is planning to transform individual beds into larger communal areas in order to strengthen collaborative work and supply the school kitchen. The focus is on combining horticultural education with processing skills in the school kitchen. Funding is provided for tools for parallel work (digging forks, pendulum hoes, spades), organic seeds and equipment for preserving and processing such as dehydrators, juicers, grain mills, garden chippers and a lawn mower. The aim of these purchases is to provide pupils with hands-on learning from soil to plate: soil care, communal harvesting, processing and storage. The funding increases the school community’s ability to act, supports a sustainable menu and teaches manual skills and an appreciation of regional food.

 

Free Waldorf School Learning Center Nieperfitz

Project: Learn better with organic berries

The Freie Waldorfschule Lernort Nieperfitz is located on a farm and combines school learning experiences with direct agricultural practice. The “Better learning with organic berries” project aims to plant around 150 organic berry bushes, which pupils will tend, harvest and process into products such as jam or fruit leather. Cultivation, fertilization and mulching techniques, harvesting cycles and processing steps are taught; teachers receive further training in garden education to ensure the sustainability of the offer. The funding goes towards the purchase of plants, processing equipment such as Thermomix and dehydrating ovens, dehydrating films, jars, tools and soil, as well as training courses and teaching materials. The aim is to closely link nutrition education, practical experience of nature and health aspects and to teach pupils skills in growing, processing and appreciating organic food.

 

Rehberg School Roßdorf

Project: Visit to the organic farm Hofgut Oberfeld

Rehbergschule Roßdorf is an elementary school that promotes learning with all the senses. With a project day at Hofgut Oberfeld, the children experience the “From grain to Christmas cookies” chain: a tour of the field, their own milling, dough preparation and baking in a wood-fired oven. The funding finances participation fees for children and accompanying adults, so that access is guaranteed regardless of individual financial means. Educationally, the excursion combines teaching topics such as harvesting, grain science and sustainability with direct sensory experiences. The project promotes an understanding of organic farming, appreciation of food and sustainable nutritional choices.

Elementary school by the lake

Project: Healthy and lively: Workshop “Small bakery – snack time”

The Am See elementary school has been recognized as an international sustainability school and plans to supplement its health concept with extracurricular workshops. In the “Small bakery – snack time” workshop, pupils in years 3 and 4 work out how bread is made from regionally grown grain. The funding covers participation and travel costs to ensure that all children can take part. Through practical work with grain, flour and dough, the children learn about manual processing steps, experience seasonal connections and strengthen healthy nutritional awareness. The project combines subject lessons with practical life skills and promotes an appreciation of regional foods.

Werkstattkinder e.V.

Project: From the workbench to the cooking pot

The WerkstattKinder parents’ initiative combines creative, manual work with nature and nutrition education for crèche and kindergarten children. The project includes converting the kitchen into a hands-on kitchen suitable for children, holding an organic workshop week, an overnight stay on an organic farm and planting a small organic garden. The aim is to give children practical experience with organic food and manual production. The funding will be used for the kitchen conversion (induction stove, child safety locks, ergonomic work surfaces), materials and fees for workshops, transportation and accommodation costs as well as garden equipment. These funds will create a safe environment for participatory cooking and learning.

 

Day nursery Neunhof

Project: Conversion to organic food

The Neunhof crèche is a small facility in a rural area that is planning to switch to organic food on a trial basis. Within one to two weeks, all meals are to be organic, accompanied by tastings, discussions with parents and educational activities for the children. The funding covers the additional costs for organic purchases, material kits for tastings and information materials. The aim is to improve the quality of the children’s diet, to inform parents about the benefits of organic food and to examine how a permanent changeover is practicable.

KiKu Bärenbande daycare center

Project: Allotment garden to sustainable organic garden

The KiKu Bärenbande daycare center has a leased allotment garden and is planning to develop it into a sustainable organic garden. The project includes repairing existing raised beds, filling them with organic soil, creating a herb spiral, composting and planting bee-friendly perennials. Children are actively involved in sowing, tending, harvesting and processing in order to develop an understanding of organic farming principles. The funding will be used for building materials, organic seeds, child-friendly gardening tools, storage jars, a food processor or Thermomix alternative and documentation material. The aim is to integrate seasonal harvests into the nursery diet and promote practical experience of nature.

Uckersternchen daycare center

Project: Snack garden at the children’s restaurant

The Uckersternchen daycare center runs a children’s restaurant with a children’s kitchen and is planning to transform the outdoor terrace into a snack garden. Raised beds, a plant pyramid, a small greenhouse and planters are to be created there, in which children can grow vegetables, herbs and strawberries. Initial equipment, plants, soil and materials for project days as well as ongoing purchases for maintenance are funded. The concept combines gardening practice with direct utilization in the children’s kitchen, promotes responsibility and enables children to experience the origin of their food directly.

Solidarity agriculture Ackervielfalt eG

Project: Experience organic: Agroforestry for schools and daycare centers

Solidarische Landwirtschaft Ackervielfalt eG cultivates an organic field with an agroforestry system and would like to open it up more as a place of learning. Plans include a school bed for a special school, planting and harvesting days, day-care workshops and field days that bring agroforestry principles and regional value creation to life. Funding will finance materials for beds, cooking and learning utensils, the development of teaching materials for specialists and the implementation of activities. The aim is to create modular educational offers that schools and daycare centers can use in the long term and to strengthen practical approaches to organic farming.

Friends of farm animals move people e.V.

Project: The chickens are laughing

The association runs an organic farm with animal-assisted education and has been offering guided tours of the farm and hands-on programs for years. The project-oriented program “Da lachen ja die Hühner” is aimed at schoolchildren with physical disabilities and is aimed at year-long visits in which chicken farming, animal welfare and feed production are exemplary. Educational content includes species-appropriate husbandry, feed production, care, motor activation and social participation. The funding finances participant support, transport, materials on site, staff support and the organizational implementation of a six-month programme of visits. Regular, action-oriented participation promotes motor, social and cognitive skills; at the same time, awareness of animal welfare and sustainable food production is conveyed.

 

Children and Youth Circus Lübeck e.V.

Project: Summer circus a la carte

The children’s and youth circus combines circus education with nature experiences and healthy eating in a vacation format on a pony farm in a nature reserve. The aim is to give children from different social backgrounds access to environmental issues and healthy eating: Circus training, excursions to the nature reserve, animal-assisted activities and preparing fresh meals together are on the program. The funding will be used for catering during the four-week campaign, use of the farm infrastructure and fees for trainers and supervisors. The project promotes exercise, teamwork, ecological education and nutritional knowledge in a creative setting and enables children to gain practical experience with regional foods and nature-based leisure activities.

Kinderhaus Nürnberg gGmbH

Project: Mini organic gourmet: from seed to plate

The supporting organization runs numerous KITAs and is planning a project that will teach children about the organic food production chain: Raised beds and organic seeds will be planted together, children will tend and harvest and prepare simple dishes such as vegetable snacks, herb butter and smoothies. Accompanying activities include craft activities, plant signs and a final party with parents to document knowledge and experiences. Funding is used for raised beds, soil, organic seeds, child-friendly kitchen utensils, aprons, craft materials, ingredients for mini-recipes and a closing event. The aim is to strengthen nutritional education, motor skills, creativity and social integration through participatory everyday activities.

 

International School Farm Hardegsen gGmbH

Project: New cold scratching room for laying hens

The International School Farm is a long-established extracurricular place of learning that teaches over 3,000 children about practical agriculture every year, including the care of 250 organic laying hens. Due to the age of the existing infrastructure, there is an urgent need for a new cold scratching room to ensure species-appropriate husbandry conditions and the educational offer. Funding will be used for material costs (fencing, wood, trapezoidal sheet metal, guttering, door), dismantling and construction work, disposal of old components and labor costs. The renovation will restore the safety and hygiene of the animal husbandry, stabilize the visitor offer and ensure the long-term implementation of practical environmental education.

 

Child day care klitzeklein

Project: Greenhouse for child day care

The day care center would like to extend gardening time with its own greenhouse and enable children to sow, tend and harvest all year round. The aim of the project is to integrate gardening activities into the day care center’s daily routine in order to combine early childhood education with experiencing nature and taking responsibility. The funding applied for covers the purchase of a robust greenhouse (6-8 m²), foundation and site preparation, heating and lighting if necessary, interior equipment such as raised beds and shelves, seeds and child-safe gardening tools. The investment creates weather-independent learning opportunities, promotes nature-related development goals and enables several cultivation cycles for educational and consumption purposes.

 

Landcampus Gröben

Project: Construction of a greenhouse for school classes

The Landcampus Gröben is an extracurricular learning facility that is currently under construction and offers practical project days on topics such as bread baking, vegetable growing and honey bees. A 12 m² greenhouse is planned to enable the year-round cultivation of vegetables and herbs and significantly expand the educational offer. The funding will go towards construction costs, building materials, raised beds or shelves and the equipment so that school classes and daycare centers can experience the complete cycle from sowing to processing. The greenhouse will create additional learning opportunities, regardless of the weather, which will increase the diversity and continuity of the offer and strengthen the campus as a regional educational location.

 

 

Mothers and Family Center Karben e.V.

Project: Organic dinner with fun

The MüZe mother and family center wants to establish a monthly parent-child dinner that offers families from different social and economic backgrounds low-threshold access to joint, healthy preparation of organic meals. The format promotes family interaction, strengthens parent-child relationships and teaches practical cooking and nutrition skills. Cooperation with local organic farms is planned for product sourcing and excursions. Funding is used to finance the food per session, the fees for group leaders and preparation as well as the purchase of optional kitchen equipment such as a juicer or flake crusher. The aim is to create a permanent, self-sustaining offer that can be built up through initial funding and later supported by low participation fees.

 

Child day care Naturzwerge

Project: Greenhouse and vegetable garden

The Naturzwerge daycare center pursues a nature-oriented childcare concept and is planning to purchase a small greenhouse and create a vegetable garden suitable for children. The project aims to bring children into contact with nature at an early age, strengthen motor skills and develop a sense of responsibility. Funding will be used for the greenhouse, including the foundations and structure, raised beds, child-friendly tools, fencing or enclosures and accompanying educational material. The measure enables an earlier start to the gardening season and extends its use into the fall; at the same time, sustainable values and seasonal relationships are brought to life.

 

TV 1848 Coburg e.V.

Project: Children’s camp “The Bio-Detectives”

The sports club organizes a five-day vacation camp for 6-12-year-olds that combines visits to organic farms, herb hikes, cooking workshops and gardening together. The aim is to enable children to experience the origin, cultivation and processing of food in a sensory and playful way while combining exercise, teamwork and nutritional skills. Funding is used for organic food during the leisure time, travel and entrance costs to farms, materials for workshops, fees for speakers and equipment for gardening. The program promotes sustainable eating habits and creates local links between sports activities and educational venues.

Alexander Coppel Comprehensive School Solingen

Project: Outdoor class: Green classroom

The inclusive comprehensive school is planning to develop a green classroom with raised beds, teaching beds, fruit and berry plantations and a barefoot path to regularly take lessons outside. The project pursues inclusive educational goals, enables hands-on learning and promotes ecological education across all year groups. Funding is used to purchase raised beds, plant material, materials for a barefoot path and tools for construction and maintenance. The expansion will create permanent learning spaces that support participatory, action-oriented learning and strengthen school communities.

 

Cyriakus Primary School Horn-Millinghausen

Project: Organic school and village garden

The Cyriakus elementary school wants to create a communal organic school and village garden as a learning and meeting place where pupils, teachers, parents and senior citizens can sow, tend and harvest together. The aim is intergenerational learning, teaching ecological cultivation principles and promoting social participation. Funding is used for barrier-free raised beds, soil, seeds, child-friendly gardening tools, the creation of an insect meadow, a composting area and seating. The project creates a permanent learning space, increases local networking and teaches practical skills in sustainable food production.

Primary and secondary school Friedersdorf

Project: The organic garden of the senses

The school is planning an “organic garden of the senses” with a barefoot path, herb caterpillar, teaching bed and jointly cultivated areas, which will be run cooperatively by primary and secondary school pupils. The project integrates subject lessons, WAT practice and handicraft activities, promotes sensory experiences and enables interdisciplinary learning from the construction of small wooden structures to garden maintenance and harvest processing. Funding is used for materials for the barefoot path, planting boxes, lawn edging, fence construction, tools, plants and documentation material. The project combines practical skills, intergenerational learning and conveying an appreciation for food and the environment.

Staudinger GS

Project: Organic school garden

Staudinger Primary School is planning a permanent organic school garden, which will be anchored directly on the school grounds as a learning and experience space. Children from all year groups will experience step by step how plants grow, what the soil and care requirements are and how much work is involved in growing vegetables. The project combines theoretical teaching content with practical gardening: from planting the beds to sowing, tending and harvesting to processing in the existing cooking club, the pupils experience the journey “from the bed to the plate”. The school newspaper documents the project with reports, interviews and photo series, so that sustainability and organic knowledge are brought into the school culture. Child-friendly tools, raised beds and peat-free organic soil, organic seeds and seedlings as well as a small garden shed for storage, growing houses and mini greenhouses for the classroom are to be funded. Optional extras include a rainwater barrel and materials for a composting station. The aim is to establish the gardening club in the long term, raise awareness of nutritional behavior and make practical environmental education accessible to all children. Gardening together strengthens a sense of responsibility, teamwork and an understanding of nature; the school kitchen benefits from freshly harvested ingredients and the school community gains a lively place for intergenerational learning and school projects.

 

Protestant daycare center Haus Löwenzahn

Project: From the earth to the mouth

The Protestant daycare center Haus Löwenzahn wants to redesign its outdoor area in a natural way and give children a direct experience of how organically produced food is grown with the “From the earth to the mouth” project. Two new beds are planned: a child-friendly organic raised vegetable bed and a “snack bed” with berry bushes and aromatic herbs. The nursery consistently uses organic seeds, peat-free substrates and organic soil, supplemented by care groups, a plant diary and themed activities on earthworms, bees and soil. During planting and harvesting phases, the children try freshly harvested samples, process yields in simple recipes such as herb quark or berry muesli and celebrate a parent-child “snack party”. The project thus promotes everyday skills, self-efficacy and a solid knowledge of organic produce: What does “organic” mean, why is sustainability important and what do freshly harvested vegetables taste like? Support is needed for the construction and materials of the raised bed, peat-free soil, plants and child-friendly tools as well as learning and decorative materials. The aim is to permanently integrate organic gardening into the daycare center’s daily routine, to strengthen nature-based pedagogy and to promote a positive, enjoyable approach to healthy eating from the very beginning.

Möllers Morgen e.V.

Project: Organic together: cooking with children and young people

Möllers Morgen e.V. runs an educational and learning farm that offers tried-and-tested approaches to sustainable agriculture. With the “Gemeinsam Bio” project, the offer is being expanded to include the combination of cultivation and preparation. Young people and school groups harvest organic vegan vegetables together on the farm’s own fields, bring the harvest to the farm kitchen and prepare meals under professional guidance. The aim is to make the ecological and ethical dimension of plant-based nutrition visible, to teach skills and to promote appreciation for regional, plant-based food. The annual project is designed as a growing season with several school groups and open educational offers; educational content includes cultivation, care, harvesting techniques and climate-relevant aspects of nutrition. The funding applied for is intended to secure fees for speakers, finance seeds, seedlings and maintenance costs for the fields, as well as cover materials and consumption costs for the cooking workshops. The combination of field work and cooking creates an action-oriented learning environment that enables young people to make reflective nutritional decisions and teaches practical skills for a sustainable future.

 

 

– Our managing director Stephanie Moßbacher

Graslitzer Primary School

Project: The Grasi school chickens

You can find more detailed information about our project in the picture or the PDF for download.

Marlishausen daycare center

Project: Organic from the nursery garden

As part of our “Spitze gegen Hitze” project, we offered a drinking station with water mixed with different types of fruit. This was a welcome change and actually encouraged the children to drink.
As this was so well received, the idea for a project was born. Trellis fruit and berry stems are to be planted in the nursery garden with the children so that next year they can help themselves to the orchard and possibly use it to spice up their own drinking water as the mood takes them.

This would require different types of fruit and berries, as well as natural fertilizers, gardening tools suitable for children, drinking water dispensers with designated fruit inserts.
Of course, it would be ideal if we had a harvest next year that the children could harvest themselves.

Weiß-Ferdl Middle School Altötting

Project: Ferdl for Future – Coming up with the chicken

Since the 2022/2023 school year, six chickens have been a permanent fixture at Weiß-Ferdl Middle School.
Why does a school keep chickens?
In recent years, we have noticed time and again that fewer and fewer children know where our food actually comes from. What better way to teach them about this topic than with our own chickens? By caring for the animals, we can help the children to make connections with nature and animals. Pupils are taught about the origins of food so that they are able to make conscious food choices themselves and perhaps even convince their own parents of this. By looking after the chickens, they learn to appreciate the value of organic products. They realize that organically produced products require an enormous amount of effort and therefore understand better why organic products are more expensive. The responsibility that comes with the daily care of the chickens teaches the children care and discipline. They take care of feeding them with high-quality organic feed, collect eggs, let the chickens run free and clean the coop regularly. Chickens also make perfect sense in terms of sustainability. We are always sorry when food ends up in the bin at school, but with the chickens we now have enthusiastic consumers. In addition, chickens are perfect for eliminating garden pests and producing nutrient-rich organic fertilizer for our school garden.

Teaching and organic nutrition

Our project also enables interdisciplinary teaching. For example, a protective house and additional perches have already been built for our chickens. It is particularly noteworthy that the pupils deal with the topic of organic nutrition in their lessons. This supports our efforts to teach the children about the importance of regional and organic products. The teachers of nutrition and social studies are also enthusiastic about the chickens, as they can integrate the topics of regionality and sustainability into their lessons in the best possible way. It should not be forgotten that animals can promote children’s social behavior. Animals have a positive influence, also on the children’s psyche.

Optimal conditions for the chickens
We want to make it as nice as possible for the chickens and already offer them far better living conditions than required by law. Nevertheless, we would be delighted if we could enlarge the enclosure with your help so that our feathered friends have even more space. Of course, the chickens can also live out their old age with us, as this is also part of species-appropriate animal husbandry.

Long-term project

Our project is long-term and not limited in time. We want the chickens to become an integral part of our school life in the distant future. The project does not end with the acquisition of the animals and their habitat. There are countless ways in which the project can be extended, for example through calculations, statistics or surveys in class. It would also be conceivable to visit organic farmers in the area to compare the way they keep their animals with ours.

What would we do with the money?
We would like to extend the chickens’ enclosure so that they have more space in the afternoon. To protect the chickens in their new enclosure against wind and weather, we would also like to buy a weather protection tarpaulin and an anti-frost blanket for the winter. We could also use the money to cover the running costs of keeping the chickens, such as feed and litter. As we also attach great importance to organic quality for these two items, this cost factor should not be underestimated. So that the chickens don’t get bored, especially at the weekend, we would like to get them an activity set. A stand and a second set of containers would be very practical so that the chickens also have access to water and food in their free run. As our organic eggs together with our school honey always make a good gift for special occasions, we would like to present them in a more appealing way and have therefore come across egg stamps.

St. Zeno Foundation; CAMINO children’s home

Project: Life on the farm

We have been a “One World Daycare Center – fair and global” for 6 years, with many small projects we want to make our children fit for the future of our world and agriculture, with its important task of feeding the world and preserving biodiversity, fits perfectly into our portfolio.

Around 20 children in our house aged 4 to 5 work on projects about life on the farm. We look at many farm animals, such as chickens, pigs and bees, and learn a lot from non-fiction books and educational videos. We also discuss why we keep these animals and what people expect from them. We will also discuss agriculture and the many machines that farmers need. We also want to give the children an understanding of farming in the past and today. Of course, we will also buy many agricultural products at the farmers’ market/ organic market and use them to make snacks, soup or cake.
“A healthy balanced snack” Focus on organic, regional and fair and with little waste
We also want to buy the food for our healthy breakfast at the farmers’ market and organic food store. We want to use a lot of creativity to make animals from agriculture and make lots of things out of packaging waste.

To save resources, we borrow lots of non-fiction books from the public library. We have already bought picture cards on the topic for the Kamischibai.
We also want to pick up on the farm theme in movement units, songs and finger plays. The children will also sow, tend and harvest vegetables and flowers in our 3 raised beds. It will be particularly exciting for the children when we hatch chicken eggs in the incubator and accompany them until the chicks hatch. Afterwards, the chicks are allowed to move into an outdoor enclosure at a colleague’s and are accompanied for a long time with videos and visits.
Finally, we want to take the bus to a farm together and experience it in reality. There are bus costs for the visit to the farm.
We would like to purchase farm animals for free playtime. To this end, we would like to buy animals from the Ostheimer company, which produces animals from wood in an inclusive workshop. A parents’ evening with a speaker will also take place.

The project period is in April/May 2025

Montessori children’s home

Project: Orchard meadow with bee colonies

This promotion is made for us, because organic is very important to us and we also want to teach the children who visit our Montessori children’s house values that can be better represented with organic, e.g. appreciation of people, animals and nature.

We buy our snacks, which the children prepare and serve at a buffet, from an organic food store.

Every week we spend a morning in an orchard, where we also harvest and process what we have harvested (e.g. apple juice). Naturally BIO!

Several bee colonies also live on this meadow orchard. Here we work together with organic beekeepers.

And … Of course, we also visit an organic farm every now and then or invite the organic farmer to our forest kindergarten to move wood with his horse.

Kneipp kindergarten “Wachbergknirpse”

Project: whole-grain-cereal-into-what-can-we-turn-it-into

We are the “Wachbergknirpse” kindergarten from Brattendorf in beautiful Thuringia.
Our kindergarten is a certified “Kneipp kindergarten” in the middle of the countryside. There are 5 Kneipp pillars of the “Kneipp teachings”. Our educational concept is based on them and, above all, we live by them.
The 5 pillars are: Water, exercise, order of life, herbs and nutrition.
It is therefore a natural and very important part of our educational work to introduce the pillar of nutrition and therefore healthy food – preferably organic – to the children in a playful and life-related way that is educationally valuable and sustainable. We have long wanted to implement the BIO project described below with the Wachbergknirpsen. Unfortunately, however, we do not yet have the equipment or the financial means to procure it.

With the project
“VOLL-KORN-GETREIDE-IN-WAS-KÖNEN-WIR-ES-VERWANDELN”, which is close to our hearts, we want to inspire our kindergarten children for a healthy organic lifestyle and hopefully continue and maintain the things they have learned with their help in our facility in the future.
The educational areas of our Thuringian education plan (according to which we work) are also fulfilled with this project. These are, for example, the following educational areas: scientific education, language education, mathematical education, musical education, physical and mental health education. For our “VOLL-KORN-GETREIDE-IN-WAS-KÖNNEN-WIR-ES-VERWANDELN” project, we have the following ideas and need the following things:

What types of grain are there?

Implementation?

• Hike and get to know cultivated grain fields in the surrounding area
• Experience visit to an organic farmer with an organic store in the village of Neida near Bad Rodach, guided tour of the organic store and bakery, bottling and purchase of the harvested grains (spelt, rye, oats) in organic quality
• Getting to know old varieties such as emmer…
• How was grain milled and baked in the past?
  Visit an old mill that is still in working order at the nearby Vessra Monastery Museum
• From grain to bread – how do we grind and bake today?
  Visit to a baker and his bakery in the neighboring village of Crock
• We grind the grain ourselves in the kindergarten with the new grain mill
• We make sourdough and bake bread. Our home-made bread dough is baked in a real bakery and on the “DENKplatte”: In cooperation with the local heritage association, we bake the bread dough in the large bakehouse
• In the future, bread dough will be baked on Denk’s baking plate (bread size for 2 groups). These will be baked regularly and eaten at the healthy breakfast
• We invite the baker to our kindergarten and he also bakes cakes and other treats with us from our grain
• Regular muesli breakfast with our own flakes
  Flakes are flaked and soaked the day before
• A dream: baking in our new wood-fired oven
  We bake in it regularly, using our own dough made from freshly ground organic grain from the farmer in organic quality

This is not a complete list of ideas, which may grow over time, as well as the children who will be able to help shape and hopefully experience this new BIO project.

Theodor Heuss Community School

Project: Theos Wiese – Sustainable and meaningful learning outdoors in and with nature

Our profile at the Theodor-Heuss-Gemeinschaftsschule is called “Theos Wiese”. Our aim is to learn outside in and with nature as sustainably and meaningfully as possible with the pupils from the 5th and 6th year profile classes. Our chickens, guinea pigs, sheep, goats and bees help us to achieve this, but the meadow and garden also make a major contribution to creating experiences of nature.

We would like to start a new gardening year with the children next spring and prepare and eat the harvest of our efforts in the summer ourselves, but also offer some of it for sale.

The planning and implementation are a lot of fun, but of course it also costs a lot of money: organic seeds and seedlings, the maintenance and purchase of new tools, the commissioning of a water supply in the garden, but also a cargo bike to be able to offer our harvested fruit and vegetables at the weekly market, among other things.

Radis & Bona cooperative store

Project: Sustainable nutrition with all senses

As the BuenaVita e.V. association, we would like to apply for funding for our educational project “Sustainable nutrition with all senses”, which we are carrying out in the organic regional cooperative store in Regensburg.

We noticed in your promotion that the institutions can actually apply, i.e. kindergartens and schools. However, as we are aware of their time constraints, we are taking the initiative ourselves.

For example, the kindergarten next door to the store visited us three times during this year’s project, each time with a different age group, and we adapted our program to the age group in each case. We would like to continue the project and, for example, taste or prepare even more fruit and vegetables from the store with the older children. This would require equipment with boards or small knives or a table and bench.
Even purely voluntary educational work reaches its limits when it is well received and demand increases. This also requires financial compensation, which is usually not available in these facilities.

We would therefore be delighted if you could support our educational project on the topic of “Sustainable nutrition with all senses”.

 

Current offers

These offers are handled by the association “BuenaVita” e.V. and have so far been carried out in the Radis&Bona cooperative store.

We offer various modules for schools and day-care centers depending on the age group and objectives of the teachers:

• e.G. – what is it and why was this legal form chosen?
• The “regional value chain” R&B store
• What does sustainability and the assessment of food mean from this point of view – practically implemented with a purchase
• Sustainability in purchasing from various perspectives – including healthy eating
• Climate-friendly purchasing
• What does “organic production and processing” mean?
• Get to know and assess different organic labels
• Recognize and name foods – Match price tags to fresh products
• Regional food in our store and the distances in kilometers
• Seasonal foods and their importance
• When is food unsustainable and how do we deal with it?
• Packaging and deposit systems

 

Also offers for kindergartens:

Kindergarten attendance – preschool group

Duration max. 60 min. at best from 9.00 to 10.00

 

Possibilities:

1. Set up fruit and vegetables together with the children and name them Illustrate the region: see “Radieserl-Film” on our homepage – Match pictures of our producers to the products, place them on the district map, what is near, what is far away

2. Exploring the fruit or vegetable corner with the children:

• What is your favorite vegetable (fruit)? What is good about it? Collect your favorite vegetables in the shopping basket
• What don’t you like at all? Why?
• What don’t you know? Collecting a basket of unknown vegetables

 

Arrange the favorite vegetables from the basket on a table and name them again.

What do you cook with it?

Clarify allergies, blind tasting of prepared vegetables, if you like.

 

Place the unknown vegetable next to it on the table and name it.

Taste it, if you like.

Game: I know something you don’t know and that is …

1. Explore fruit corner as soon as there is more regional fruit, e.g. strawberries – feel, smell, describe, taste
2. Spring: Feeling game with potatoes: and potatoes with sprouts – differences, why do potatoes do this? What do potatoes need to grow? Pot to put sprouted potatoes in, supplement with pictures, take sprouted potatoes back to the kindergarten for further observation and planting.
3. Beginning of May – exploration with runner beans/feeling game – plant runner beans and observe over 1 – 2 weeks in the kindergarten, either in the kindergarten as a bean tippi or in front of the store at the entrance
4. Eggs: Describe the product as a riddle – or also a feeling game with an egg – place it very carefully in the nest of hands and handle it with care – tell children what they know about eggs and chickens. Supplement with pictures of our chicken farmer and let the children talk about it.

Luzenberg youth club

Project: Urban gardening on the roof terrace of the youth club

As part of our urban gardening project, we want to offer young people the opportunity to actively engage with the topics of organic and sustainable agriculture. We have already created raised beds on our spacious roof terrace, which offer ideal conditions for growing organic fruit, vegetables and herbs together.

The project has several objectives: It aims to provide young people with basic knowledge about organic farming methods and sustainable nutrition, teach them manual skills and at the same time raise awareness of the importance of protecting the environment and conserving resources. Through direct contact with nature and growing their own food, participants learn to appreciate the cycles of nature and are given the opportunity to take responsibility.

The Luzenberg district is one of the socially and structurally weakest in Mannheim. With the youth center, which opened in summer 2024, youth work finally has a permanent location in the district. The youth center is visited by an average of around 30 children and young people every day and we are constantly working on new activities and projects. Unfortunately, our budget for this is limited, which is why we would like to apply for funding from Byodo.

 

Sustainability aspects:

Our method of urban gardening is based on organic cultivation principles. We only use organic fertilizers and do not use pesticides. We also attach great importance to the resource-conserving use of water and the use of recycled materials to maintain the raised beds. The project offers young people a practical alternative to industrial farming models and at the same time contributes to the greening of urban spaces.

 

Aims of the project:

Imparting knowledge: Young people are taught about organic farming and sustainable nutrition.

Promotion of environmental awareness: Young people develop an understanding of ecological relationships and environmental protection.

Strengthening the community: gardening together promotes teamwork and social skills.

Promoting a healthy lifestyle: By growing their own food, participants consciously engage with healthy eating.

 

Project requirements:

For successful implementation, we need support in the form of organic seeds, organic fertilizers and gardening tools. Further training for our project managers in the field of sustainable agriculture would also be of great benefit. For planting and maintenance, we need knowledgeable people who can support us. We are thinking of cooperating with a local nursery.

ASB day care center Cuxhofwichtel

Project: More “organic” in our kindergarten

We are a kindergarten in the beautiful town of Mihla, which is located right next to the Hainich National Park and the Werra river. Our principle is: “Every child is unique and we meet them where they are.” Nature plays a major role in our pedagogy, as does a balanced organic diet.

We include it in our concept as full meals for our children. The aim of our nutritional education work is to enable children to take responsibility for their own eating and drinking habits. This includes the development of a sense of hunger and thirst, taste and sensory training, knowledge of hygiene and responsible handling of food. Furthermore, organic products from our own production are offered at mealtimes. We have several raised beds, which the children cultivate together with the teachers. Our snack corner with raspberries, currants and gooseberries is particularly popular. There are also some fruit trees in the outdoor area, which complete our meals with fruit after the harvest.

Behind the kindergarten building lives our little family of chickens, who surprise us with eggs almost every day. The awareness of caring for the animals is something we live out in our kindergarten together with the parents, who take over the chicken duty with their children at the weekend. In order to provide the chicken family with organic food, we have entered into a cooperation with the local agricultural company, which has an organic certificate. They provide us with the feed and give the children an insight into organic farming. For example, there will soon be an excursion focusing on the shepherd and his flock of sheep. This form of landscape conservation is particularly ecological and brings the children closer to nature and animals. Our partner has purchased a special mower for mowing meadows, a double-knife cutter bar with a high-cutting camber, in order to mow the meadows more gently and thus keep them attractive for insects and not deprive them of their food source. We want to take a closer look at the machines during our visit to the farm. Our project “Hainich predators meet ecology – we explore the LMU – Mila agricultural enterprise” will continue into the fall. At the end, we want to celebrate a harvest thanksgiving party.

Our contribution to more biodiversity

 

With our near-natural company premises, we make an important contribution to preserving insect diversity and have once again been awarded the title of “Blooming Company” by Blühpakt Bayern.

The Blühpakt Bayern has set itself the task of stopping species extinction, especially among insects. Companies that design their open spaces to be close to nature and thus create a habitat for insects are therefore awarded the title of “Blooming Companies”. This is the second time we have received the award.

The open areas of our company premises in Mühldorf am Inn are laid out as extensively maintained rough pasture, i.e. they are rarely mowed. The particularly lime-rich and nutrient-poor soil ensures a year-round flower population that provides shelter and food for insects. The roofs of the office building and the associated Feinsinn organic food store are also covered in greenery.

But we are also committed to greater insect protection and biodiversity outside our own premises. Since 2020, we have also been the sponsor of a 500 m² flowering area between Mühldorf and Weiding. The former field was transformed into a habitat for a variety of insects and other animals using native seeds. The flowering area is maintained by Maschinenring Altötting-Mühldorf.

 

Would you also like to contribute to the protection of insects? At

bluehpakt.bayern.de

there are numerous tips for “Blooming Gardens”.

We switch off the advertising lighting from 9 pm

 

We have adjusted the burning time of our advertising lighting and support the “Paten der Nacht”, a Germany-wide organization against light pollution. This is because a night illuminated by artificial light disturbs the biorhythm of humans, animals and plants.

“What microplastics are in our oceans, lakes and soil, artificial light is in our atmosphere,” says the organization “Godfathers of the Night”, explaining the problem of light pollution. That is why they are actively campaigning for a reduction in artificial lighting in both the commercial and private sectors. The associated project “10 p.m. – lights out” is specifically about advertising lighting. The organization is trying to persuade companies to switch off outdoor advertising lighting by 10 p.m. at the latest.

Because a responsible approach to the environment is a core corporate value for us, we are participating in this project and adjusted the lighting times at the end of February. We even go one step further by giving the night an extra hour of darkness. In future, the motto at Byodo and in our organic store Feinsinn will be “9 pm – lights out”!

By participating in this project, we also want to encourage other companies to rethink their approach. Because the more companies and private individuals take part, the darker the night becomes and the more the environment benefits.

 

You can find helpful tips on reducing light pollution at

www.paten-der-nacht.de

.

100% enjoyment in 100% recyclable packaging

 

Not only perfect enjoyment and the best organic quality, but also sustainable packaging play a central role in our organic products. That is why we are switching the packaging of Italian Byodo pasta to paper.

The

lasagne sheets in light-colored

,

wholemeal

and

gluten-free version

and the
cannelloni
were available in cardboard packaging from the outset. The previous plastic-reduced composite packaging for our other pasta varieties is now also being completely replaced by 100% recyclable paper packaging, which can and should be disposed of in the blue garbage can for waste paper.

The new packaging is made of paper with the “FSC Mix” certification. It therefore contains materials from FSC-certified forests, recycled material and material from controlled sources (Controlled Wood). This mix of materials promotes responsible forest management by enabling the parallel processing of both certified and non-certified wood*.

Our love of pasta is particularly evident in the selection of the best raw materials and the Byodo promise of enjoyment. Only sun-ripened, Italian grain in 100% organic quality is used for the 19 durum wheat and 4 emmer semolina varieties. It is always freshly ground and processed into pasta in Italy. Traditional bronze dies slightly roughen the surface of the noodles when pressed so that they later combine perfectly with the sauce.

 

Byodo and its pasta – a German-Italian love story since 1992.

30 years ago, Byodo founder Michael Moßbacher was one of the first manufacturers to launch light-colored organic pasta on the market. At the time, it was absolutely innovative and required a lot of explanation, because until then only the wholemeal version had been known as organic pasta. Since then, we have maintained a good partnership with our Italian pasta partners and have acquired a wide range of pasta expertise over the past three decades.

 

*FSC Germany,

www.fsc-deutschland.de/wp-content/uploads/FSC-Kennzeichen-Infopapier-Juni2021.pdf