Schoolyard Roots, a nonprofit organization promoting health and nutrition, brought a weeklong “Moveable Feast” of Tuscaloosa’s local food scene to support gardening education in schools Oct. 1-6.
Specialty dishes known as “Schoolyard Roots Specials” were offered at 12 local restaurants around the city including Five, Central Mesa, Chuck’s Fish, Turbo Coffee, Monarch Espresso Bar, The Alcove, Druid City Brewing Company, Southern Ale House, River, Black Warrior Brewing Company, Sugo and Jalapeno’s Downtown.
“They get the chance to bring new people in, and so we really think that it’s a win-win for everyone involved,” said Nicole Dugat, executive director of Schoolyard Roots. “We’re still crunching the numbers for this year, but so far it’s been a huge success.”
Schoolyard Roots visits more than 12 Tuscaloosa elementary schools with the hope of encouraging a deeper involvement and understanding of health, nutrition and agriculture among students.
The dishes this year featured products grown and provided by participating farms like Schoolyard Roots Gardens, Wallace Homestead and Underground Forest. Profits from the products go to Schoolyard Roots’ Gardens 2 Schools program, an interactive garden education program where students learn to grow and cook fruits and vegetables, while applying math, science and language arts to the skills they acquire in the garden.
“We’ve got hundreds of students who come out into our gardens every single day, and we will continue to run our garden lessons with our students every week until the end of the school semester,” Dugat said. “At the end of the semester, we’re working towards having the students run their own farm stands where they can sell produce that they grew back to their community at a discounted rate.”
To kick off the feast, Schoolyard’s Roots held a commencement celebration on Oct. 1 at Druid City Brewing Company. The event had live music by Asa J. Harris, a live auction of art from local artisans and a market table with items made from herbs exclusively at Schoolyard Root’s gardens.
Schoolyard Roots initially held a “Garden Party” at the River Market where restaurants could come together and sell their items in a farmer’s market style. However, in 2020, the organization decided to have special meals at featured restaurants.
Tom Rathe, garden educator for Schoolyard Roots, said that people have enjoyed being able to go to different restaurants and try new foods on their own schedule.
Rathe said that Druid City Brewing Company has “always been a big supporter” of Schoolyard Roots. Holding the kickoff there was a decision made based on it being a local place where people could hang out and enjoy the community.
Providing select items available at sit-down and quick-order restaurants allowed different supporters access to Schoolyard Roots’ products according to their schedules.
Turbo Coffee featured a lavender latte, a simple twist that complemented the natural coffee taste without overdoing it.
“It’s easy to make, and we got fresh lavender from Schoolyard Roots that tastes really good,” said Gianna Carroll, a barista at Turbo Coffee who enjoyed the latte served iced and hot.
Items like the pumpkin brownie dessert at Five, butternut squash with pumpkin alfredo offered at Leavelle Farms and shitake mushrooms from Underground Forest served at Sugo Italian Restaurant allowed those in Tuscaloosa to try new and interesting dishes while supporting the community.
The last event of the weeklong celebration was a bike ride to “Moveable Feast” locations, in partnership with VeloCity Cycles on Sunday.
“We’re just so grateful to all the people who came together in the community,” Dugat said. “It’s just amazing to see how many businesses, restaurants, farmers and individuals come together to make this happen.”
