GrowingGreat (GrowingGreat.org) is a local nonprofit in Manhattan Beach that is dedicated to helping children and adults make healthy eating choices. A big part of what they do is promote locally-grown, organic fruits and vegetables and place an emphasis on where our food comes from and how it impacts us as a community.
On Saturday, July 12, GrowingGreat, is hosting a Farm-to-Table Benefit with dozens of chefs and foodies and restaurant owners like Michael and Andrea Zislis. Begun in 1999, GrowingGreat was just a local edible garden at Pacific Elementary School in Manhattan Beach. By 2004, it had a full program at five local elementary schools in the Manhattan Beach Unified School District. Today, in 2014, 50 elementary schools in Los Angeles County, San Diego, Las Vegas, New York and Northern California work with GrowingGreat. Students learn how to plant seeds in the spring, harvest in the fall, and host farmer’s markets selling local produce.
Manhattan Beach and the other Beach Cities are blessed to have a local community of adults that care about the long-term sustainability of the neighborhoods, the local economy, and living an overall healthier lifestyle.