U.S. Representative Gabe Vasquez visited Polk Middle School in the South Valley Thursday to tour its student-run farm. The congressman has championed federal legislation that aims to make the outdoors more accessible for underserved youth as a means of preserving a culture of land stewardship.
Travis McKenzie, Polk Middle School’s garden resource teacher, walked the Representative through hoop houses on what he says has grown from a garden into a school farm. Noting radishes ready to be harvested, he plucked a few out of the ground.
“Students will come in and will sometimes be walking around with a salt shaker or whatever,” he told Vasquez. “And we’ll wash it off and we just start munching.”
McKenzie said the school hopes to eventually supplement school meals with the farm’s produce and send some home with students experiencing food insecurity. He said it’s also an effort to reflect the school’s community with its rich agricultural history.
“We all know that we have a thriving culture in the South Valley and we want to be the counter narrative. A lot of times, when we hear about the South Valley, it might not be the most positive of things,” he said. “We want to highlight what is positive and the strength of our community.”
Rep. Vasquez told the students about growing up with a grandfather who farmed small urban plots in Ciudad Juarez to feed his family.
“What you guys are doing out here is a testament to carrying on those traditions and that legacy and that culture,” he said.
The congressman’s visit follows the passage this month of the Explore Act in the U.S. House, a bill he co-sponsored. In part, the measure aims to increase outdoor recreation opportunities on federal land for underserved young people.
“When these kids dig their hands in the dirt, when they learn what it takes to put food on their table, how little water we have, how the climate impacts the growing seasons — they understand that, when they grow into adults, they have a duty to care for that,” he said. “Outdoor recreation and outdoor access is part of that formula.”
He said with rare bipartisan support for the act in the House, he expects the Senate to take it up in the next few months.
