We celebrated Earth Day 2012 with a family picnic at Speyer farm for Speyer Legacy School families — it was so much fun that even the chickens showed up!  HealthBarn USA partnered with Speyer’s super farm committee and the Friends of Hilltop Hanover Farm and Environmental Center to host a day of awareness about how we can reduce the amount of packaged foods we consume to improve our health and the health of the planet.  It is all about eating farm fresh and WOW did that theme come to life in an exciting way on Saturday, April 21.

We had a guest appearance by author Vanessa Valencia who read her book, Mamma’s Planet Earth and helped everyone to get their green on!  Our brains were definitely on fire as we brainstormed ways that we can reduce, reuse and recycle as individuals, at home and at school.  Then, we moved inside the barn for some great hands-on activities.

Green art work lead by artist Edith Rojas from Mamma Plant Earth representing what we can do to practice the 3 R’s….

Butter Beans, Speyer’s school lunch food service, lead some delicious recipes, including bright red salsa and a yummy fruit salad — both loaded with good nutrition for our bodies….

We now have a green wall of fame at the barn with so many great ideas for reducing our waste…

Then, we shared a delicious and nutritious potluck lunch together.  Some families even packed their own “fresh” picnic lunch — they get an E for extra effort!  Robbie, Jade’s dad, whipped out yummy gucamole that was gone in a flash.

After lunch, we headed to the garden for a veggie tour by Lu, farm manager at Hilltop Hanover Farm and got our hands super dirty composting our lunch with Margaret from HealthBarn USA — how cool is that?!

What an inspiring day at the farm to be part of a community that cares so much about their health and the health of the planet.  But most importantly, we are READY to take action to protect Mother Nature!

Share your Earth Day stories with us at the barn…. we want to hear from you!