What began as a desire to offer more produce to families facing food insecurity germinated into thriving gardens of plenty.

This is how it all started:

In 2011, when she was 12, Sophie Bernstein of Clayton visited a local food bank and was extremely disappointed by the lack of healthy options.

“It was mostly cookies and other junk,” said Sophie, now a Clayton High School sophomore.

Inspired by her visit, Sophie took action. She built a garden in her backyard in order to grow fresh vegetables for the food banks. Her success with the garden led her to begin Go Healthy St. Louis, an organization that builds gardens at low-income preschools to provide more fresh options for the banks.

Susie Rubin, a licensed dietician, said, “Kids from lower-income households are at an increased risk for poor nutrition as compared to kids from higher-income homes.”

Sophie says that she always wanted to grow a garden but that at first, her parents weren’t gung-ho about the idea. “I finally gave in,” she added.

Go Healthy St. Louis’ gardens serve two purposes: producing food and educating children about the importance of healthy eating. So far, the organization has planted 19 gardens throughout the St. Louis area, as well as in Indianapolis and New York.  

“I would really like to expand into Illinois, namely East St. Louis,” Sophie said.

Sophie’s family has been extremely supportive of her project. Her older siblings founded Volunteen Nation, a nonprofit that connects teens with age-appropriate volunteer opportunities.

“Volunteering is extremely important to my family,” Sophie said.  “My dad was deployed when I was a baby after 9/11. He’s instilled the importance of giving back in all of us.”

Eager to expand her organization, Sophie used her bat mitzvah funds to build a garden at a nearby YMCA. She spoke to a preschool about planting a garden on their grounds. During her first year working with the preschool’s garden, she saw that many children were intrigued by the project.

“I saw kids looking at the tomatoes. They were smiling,” Sophie said. “I soon saw the garden as a learning opportunity. In the second year of the program, the kids helped plant with us. From there, I took some of the tomatoes into a classroom. Each kid got to take home a little seed.”

Over the course of five years, Go Healthy St. Louis has donated more than 5,000 pounds of fresh food from its gardens. Each garden contains simple produce, food easily incorporated into everyday diets.

“The food banks welcome all sorts of produce,” Sophie said. “Tomatoes and cucumbers are the most appreciated, since they are easier to utilize in recipes.”

Many of the preschoolers live in food deserts, areas in which it is difficult to buy affordable or high-quality fresh food. Sophie has incorporated basic recipes into her curriculum because many children and their parents do not know how to prepare simple vegetables.

“I teach meals like caprese salad, which is just tomatoes, mozzarella and basil, very simple, very easy, very healthy,” she said.

Interested schools, usually in low-income areas that lack funding, can apply for a garden with Go Healthy St. Louis. The organization received a $36,000 grant from Diller Foundation after Sophie won the Diller Tikkun Olam award last year.

“Each [garden] costs around $2,000 to build. I provide everything from the tools to the seeds,” Sophie said.

Armed with more than 750 volunteers, Sophie is able to build a garden in a day or two. Her volunteers range from young kids to teenagers.

“We get a group of volunteers together for one day, build the physical gardens and put all of the dirt in,” Sophie said.  “Ideally, the weather is nice enough to plant on the same day. If not, another group will go out later and plant.

“Setting the two days apart is great because we get two different groups of volunteers. I go back with some volunteers and we water the gardens, pick the produce and bring it to the food bank.”

The volunteers love their work. High-schoolers hoping to earn volunteer hours get to spend time outdoors with their friends.

“Volunteering was super fun because it is something I love to do anyway,” said program volunteer Elle Harris, a freshman at John Burroughs. “You don’t realize how beneficial it is for the children while you are doing it. Afterward, I fully comprehended how much they appreciate it. Sophie is doing truly amazing work.”

To volunteer with Go Healthy St. Louis or find detailed event information, follow it on Twitter, @gohealthystl, or email Sophie at [email protected].