Miami school food forests expand with Life Time Foundation support

The Education Fund marked a third year of Arbor Day support from Life Time Foundation at a Miami-Dade County public school, highlighting a program that blends nutrition, science and hands-on environmental learning. The effort now reaches more than 26,000 students across 71 schools and has delivered 313,000 harvest bags to families since 2015.

Why it matters: - The Education Fund’s Food Forests for Schools program is turning Miami-Dade County Public Schools yards into outdoor classrooms that teach nutrition, science and sustainability. - The program is reaching more than 26,000 students across 71 public schools in Miami-Dade County. - The effort is sending fresh produce home to families while helping students build healthier eating habits. - Research cited by the program shows the Food Forests also add tree canopy and plant diversity in a county with limited cover.

What happened: - On Friday, April 24, The Education Fund and the Life Time Foundation marked Arbor Day at Lake Stevens Elementary School in Miami-Dade County. - Students, Life Time Foundation volunteers, school staff and community partners planted trees, harvested produce and took part in Food Forest lessons. - The day focused on hands-on learning that connected math, science and nutrition to the schoolyard. - The Education Fund said the event was the third consecutive year of Arbor Day support from the Life Time Foundation.

The details: - Students planted calamondin, bay rum, moujean tea and lemon verbena, along with other edible and native plants suited to South Florida. - The Food Forests for Schools initiative includes more than 30 varieties of tropical fruit trees, herbs and vegetables native to South Florida, including banana, papaya, Barbados cherry, moringa, starfruit and Okinawan spinach. - Life Time Foundation provided a $75,000 presenting funder grant for the program this year. - Since 2024, the Life Time Foundation has given $200,000 to support Food Forests for Schools. - Miami-Dade County Public Schools is the third-largest school district in the United States. - A Florida International University study led by researcher Cara Rockwell found average canopy cover across the Food Forests is about 53 percent. - The same research found plant species richness increased by more than 400 percent compared with grassy areas next to the schools. - The county’s mean tree canopy cover is about 20 percent. - In the 2024-25 school year, 53 percent of participating students improved their nutrition knowledge. - In the same school year, 52 percent shifted toward eating more nutritious foods. - Since 2015, students have taken home 313,000 harvest bags. - The program receives support from the Humana Foundation, Braman Family Foundation, The Batchelor Foundation, TD Bank, TD Charitable Foundation, Blackstone Foundation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Florida Department of Agriculture and PNC Foundation. - Additional district support comes from the School District Education Foundation Matching Grants Program, the Miami-Dade County Public Schools Department of Food and Nutrition, Division of Academics and Office of Design & Sustainability. - More information is available in the program’s media kit and at educationfund.org.

Between the lines: - The program is designed to do more than beautify school grounds. It uses food production and ecology as a teaching tool. - The student-to-family pipeline is a core part of the model. Students learn in the garden and bring produce home. - The canopy and biodiversity gains suggest the schoolyards are functioning as environmental infrastructure as well as learning spaces. - Life Time Foundation’s continued funding signals confidence in a model that combines health education with neighborhood-level environmental benefits.

What's next: - The Education Fund said it will keep expanding and sustaining Food Forests for Schools across Miami-Dade County Public Schools. - The organization is inviting the community to support the program and learn more through its website. - Schools and students will continue weekly hands-on lessons tied to math, science, nutrition and sustainability.

The bottom line: - Miami’s Food Forests are becoming a long-running experiment in whether schoolyards can improve student health, classroom learning and neighborhood green space at the same time.