By: Isabel Hernandez
If you have ever needed a push to keep going, look to Farm to School Specialist, Michelle Ratcliffe. Graduating high school with dyslexia and an 8th-grade reading level, she managed to go to law school, earn a Ph.D., and even receive a personal invitation to the White House from Michelle Obama. How did she do all this? It started with a passion for growing food.
Growing up as a first-generation American was not easy. When life got tough, Michelle grew vegetables. Through every challenge – including race riots and gang violence — Michelle kept gardening. Eventually, she brought gardening into schools. “Farm to school and all those things we say it does for kids related to academic achievement, health and wellness… it’s all my direct experience,” she said. Michelle eventually worked to create the first farm to school position in the state of Oregon. Now she has her own brand called “Rootopia,” and can be seen on TV sharing her mission to “raise happy healthy kids.” Michelle, however, did not always know her passion for growing food could turn into a successful career.
While in law school, there was a moment that changed everything for Michelle. She was doing her dissertation on climate change and was teaching at a high school in the bay area. One of the projects was a community garden. The idea was to bring together different socioeconomic backgrounds. Michelle saw something special in a student named Britney and pushed her so hard she finally cracked and started yelling at Michelle. “You’re all up in my face and you’re telling us to go find our dreams and passion…you’re not even doing what you care about. You’re saying climate change, climate change and all you care about is school gardening! You should either be a school gardener or an aerobics instructor!” Britney yelled. “That was my pivotal moment. It was the clarity of youth that was in my face and was like: this is what you should do. And so I did,” Explains Michelle. After this, Michelle changed her dissertation and ended up being the third person in the country to do dissertation research on school gardening.
Last October, for Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign’s capstone event, Michelle Ratcliffe was invited to attend because it was her research that was used as one of the proof points to establish the White House garden. It was a life-affirming moment for Michelle Ratcliffe. And after the big event, she called Britney to thank her. Michelle continues to garden every day, and hopes to expand “Rootopia” so she can change more lives through gardening.