In a webinar on school gardening, presenter Kyla Van Deusen of the Captain Plant Foundation focuses on bridging the gap between locally grown foods and access to them in schools. Gardens are a hands-on experience that allows students to actively participate in the planting process and provides them with the knowledge of where their food actually comes from. Ms. Deusen mentions many ways to get students involved in gardening such as harvesting, taste testing in the classroom, and placing it in the cafeterias. She also mentioned different ways to connect a garden into school learning such as through after school programs, service learning, or project-based learning in the classroom. One example provided was of a school using spinach instead of green dye for “green eggs and ham” for Dr. Suess day. Big or small steps can make a difference, so a simple start can lead to big changes.
Outdoor and indoor gardens can both be options depending on the location of a school, so it is possible for any school to begin a garden program. Paying attention to seasonality and food safety are important factors to keep in mind no matter what kind of garden a school is implementing. Keeping track of when vegetables and plants are in season helps to ensure the crop is utilized, so Ms. Deusen recommends keeping a seasonal chart as a guide. Food safety includes not only with the food grown in the garden but personal hygiene and post-garden handling as well. Hand washing stations and making sure sick students are not involved in garden activities for a few days are just some of the recommendations for ensuring all food and students are safe. Proper food handling after harvesting is also important for student and food safety, such as making sure the food is cooled down then put in the refrigerator.
Practitioners can benefit from this information by assisting schools with the process of starting a garden. Many partnerships are available for these types of projects, including support from USDA or local grants, so practitioners can be the bridge that connects these partners with the schools. Health practitioners could also provide useful resources on proper food handling and safety to ensure schools understand all factors that play a role in a school garden. Starting a garden program is a team effort, so support from a practitioner in a school’s community is beneficial for success. For more information on gardening in schools, check out growing-gardens.org – manual and captainplanetfoundation.org.
This summer I was able to partake in a community service project at an Atlanta public school. We completely redid the school garden, built brand new garden boxes and planted an assortment of vegetables, watermelon and herbs. I was able to talk to the school’s principle about how much of an influence this garden has on the students. Not only does it give the students a sense of responsibility, but also encourages healthy eating habits. The principal said that the teachers, just like in this study, try to utilize the garden as much as possible, whether that is watering it, cleaning off the dead branches, picking off the food, taste testing or learning how to properly prepare the specific vegetable. The students whether they realize it or not are learning life skills. An interesting point that was brought up in this study was the food safety recommendations, especially personal hygiene. It totally makes sense for students to wash their hands before digging in the garden and something I didn’t even think of is keeping a student who is battling a cold, to keep them away from the garden because they could actually contaminate the seeds. If a school has the resources and funding to have a community garden, I think it can only produce positive results for the students.
I love the idea of school and classroom gardens. I found some information from Slow Food USA that cites many studies and gives some great statistics about the benefits of these programs (http://gardens.slowfoodusa.org/contents/sdownload/3591/file/Benefits-of-School-Gardens-Denver-Urban-Gardens.pdf ). The benefits range from academic, encouraging inquiry and engagement, to health related outcomes such as physical activity, stress reduction, and exposure to healthy foods. This research is very interesting to me. As a “retired” kindergarten teacher who had a classroom garden I can attest to this first hand. In my classroom we had a daily garden rotation. The time spend in the garden was always looked forward to by the students and when they returned to their daily routines they were always more calm and ready to attend to their academic work. Through gardening students were also much more willing to eat the foods that we grew. In addition, on Fridays we had a master gardener come in to give a long specific lesson. These lessons might include things like soil and composting, planting or how our food grows. Not only did the children look forward to these days but parents often told me it made them excited to come to school and more willing to try vegetables at home.
I just love the fact that children are getting their hands dirty (literally) and are being a part of the food growing process. Studies have shown this to have a significant benefit when paired with nutrition education to increase nutrition knowledge and preference for certain fruits and vegetables. I can really see how this can be important in young children. I am curious as to why this isn’t used more in high school settings as I can see how it could be just as educational and even stress relieving. However, my favorite part about this post is the inclusion of health practitioners (us!) in creating these gardens. Right now, gardens are still very rare, but that is where we come in. Including health practitioners in the process of garden or educational material development can lead to further knowledge about nutrition and disease states, which [in a perfect world] will lead to obesity prevention. There are so many unique ways for us to be involved in obesity prevention, and this is such a great way to start with children.
Were there any examples provided in the webinar of successful school gardens and how they affected the children? In Kenya, it is common to find elementary and middle schools with several small farms or gardens because students are required to take agriculture as a course. Agriculture as a course involves planting of different foods, keeping the gardens in good shape, and finally harvesting the yield. It made me appreciate food and taught me about healthy food.
School food gardens provide a way of making connections and institutionalizing healthy practices. This also makes healthy eating a part of the students every day life. The Robert Woods Johnson Foundation has developed a framework known as ‘A culture of health.’ One of the success stories included a school in Camden, New Jersey where through collaboration with other sectors they were able to successfully operate a school garden.
I believe schools should look into this framework and tap into the resources provided when looking to start a school garden. Another suggestion could be making a policy where schools are required to have enough space for a garden if not several for the students.