NRHEG High School students prepared to plant vegetables Tuesday that will be reinvested in New Richland Area Food Shelf.

Students in the school’s natural resource class, under the supervision of instructor Dan Sorum, planned to plant tomatoes, potatoes, peas and green beans at the food shelf, said Megan Kirby, a community health specialist in Waseca County.

Sorum said the event provided students human service, hands-on experience and a greater knowledge of soil — essential for the course, he said.

“It’s great stuff,” he said.

The projct took form after Pam and Larry Goehring, food shelf treasurer and president, applied for a State Health Insurance Assistance Program grant and received funding. Students helped construct the beds used for planting and developed a plan for the location of each plant and how to grow the beds.

This was the first year for the project, which is expected to continue in coming years.

Kirby said the project was a good community project.

“It’s creating a health-equity focus for the community,” she said. “We’re helping populations that maybe wouldn’t have access to healthier foods, and now they do have that access to the healthier foods. And it’s a great volunteer project — if they do want to come over, the beds are at good levels — it’s less bending over. It promotes people being active.”