Land To Learn

Joining me on the Born To Talk Radio Show Podcast on November 29th, 1-2 PT are Co-Directors of Land To Learn, Sam Adels and Zoe Markwalter.

Let’s Meet Sam and Zoe.

Sam is the Program Manager & Garden Educator. He fell in love with gardening after years of being asked to help out in the family garden. Committed to social and environmental justice, Sam has devoted his professional life to environmental education. A former national park ranger, Sam has spent many years educating youth about ecology and the environment. Before joining Land to Learn, Sam taught ecology and gardening to NYC public school students. He also worked on a small, organic farm in Maine.

Sam teaches through hands-on, experiential education, and enjoys encouraging kids to explore and connect to the world around them. He hopes to inspire future generations on how to be eco-literate stewards. When not in the classroom or garden, Sam can be found cooking, baking, or exploring the Hudson Valley by foot or bicycle.

Zoë is the Director of Operations. She found her place in the Hudson Valley through community-supported agriculture. Zoe has a diverse background in arts management and education. Her passion for social justice, local food systems, and community makes Land to Learn a great space for her to share her energy and values. An experiential and non-traditional learner earning her first undergrad degree at the age of 32, Zoë understands first hand the benefits of Land to Learn’s holistic and integrated approach to education.

When not at work, Zoë strives for the ever-elusive life balance – salvaging random supplies for home projects, digging in her salvage garden, preserving the harvest, creating meals, turning her compost, dancing, cycling, traveling, and photographing landscapes, theater, and dance. What a life!

Land To Learn.

Their Mission is growing a movement for food justice and community wellness through garden-based education.

Land to Learn educates children in school gardens. They empower their students through curriculum-integrated lessons focused on healthy eating, food literacy, outdoor learning, and academic success.

As thousands of children across the Hudson Valley participate in weekly standards-based garden education, they develop a love of learning and the outdoors. As an example, students plant seeds, steward the land, and share new foods with their peers. They are also cultivating compassion, patience, and self-discipline. Land to Learn helps students connect discoveries in the classroom to action in the community. By partnering with schools, they provide students with innovative, experience and observation along with project-based food education.

Above all, their curriculum cultivates a deepened awareness of self, the world and its inhabitants, and the interconnectedness of all beings.