Apple Seeds Teaching Farms has been serving the community of Northwest Arkansas for 17 years. With more than 60 local schools and agencies, Apple Seeds is a teaching farm used to teach students about nutritious eating and provide locally grown food to food insecure families.
The farm is open year round and serves around 15,382 students each year. They also provide around 8,779 pounds of nutrient-rich food to local families in need every year.
Ryan Patterson, Program Director of Apple Seeds Farms, says the purpose of Apple Seeds Farms is to inspire healthy living through garden based education. The farm achieves this through elementary school field trips, after school programs, and introducing educational programs for nutritional eating into schools, said Ryan.
When asked about their biggest event hosted by Apple Seeds Teaching Farm, Ryan says everyday is their biggest event. “When we have 100 first graders who are out here in a one morning time span, I would consider that a pretty big event,” said Ryan.
The first graders come to the farm to take part in harvesting and cooking. “We have a few stations, one station all about food groups where we teach them the benefit of eating all these food groups,” said Ryan. “At another station, they get the chance to harvest something from the garden and make a recipe from what they have harvested to get them excited about where their food comes from.” 
Volunteers come to serve at the farm by helping with these field trips. They can also serve by working in the garden, in the teaching kitchen, packing produce or setting up events that the farm hosts.
Maddie Gentil, Senior at the University of Arkansas, volunteered for Apple Seeds Farms in the spring as a harvester. Maddie volunteered at Apple Seeds every Thursday morning in the garden. She said that she enjoyed volunteering at the farms because of the connection it provided her to her local community.
The teaching farm does host a variety of events such as an annual fundraising event in October know as Farm Dinner. Apple Seeds has also put on other programs such as Farm to Table dinners where nutritious and healthy food is served to local donors and members of the community. Apple Seeds is also available to be rented out for private events.
Apple Seeds Teaching Farm is constantly seeking new volunteers and collaborations with members of the community. They have provided a place for the young people of Northwest Arkansas to learn about nutritious eating in a welcoming and creative environment and will continue to serve in many other ways.
To donate or learn more about Apple Seeds Teaching Farms you can visit the link below.