food culture
The Garden: If the Forest is where students build kinship with Nature, the Garden is where they build partnership, and learn to give and take in mutual nourishment.
We care for the soil and the microlives within it, plant and harvest food for the Kitchen, and compost our meal scraps to start the cycle over again.
The Farms: Raintree prioritizes spending its food dollars with local, sustainably-minded farms who care about the land and their employees. Below are some of our regular partners. We aim to minimize chemically-treated produce, choose ethically and sustainably raised fish and meat, emphasize plant-based proteins, and build community with the growers that provide our food.
The Kitchen: the Kitchen is at the heart of the school. The smells of pancakes and eggs fill the campus in the mornings, and students peer through the playscape window to watch the Chefs prepare lunch. We prioritize scratch-made meals that celebrate every season. With cozy hearty soups in the Winter, or light refreshing salads in Summer, if you’re going to be in the Forest all day, your lunch needs to hit the spot accordingly!
The Dining Room: Mealtime at Raintree is as much a learning experience as Classroom or Forest time. Students and their teachers eat together in community and practice all the skills entailed in enjoying a meal: the technical aspects of setting tables, serving and passing; the social skills of pleasant conversation, sharing, and table manners; and the food-relational skills of listening to your body's hunger cues and exploring new foods.
