School Lunch

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Permalink Reply by Curt Alexander on May 6, 2009 at 9:59pm

It sounds like a noble idea. Schools don't do enough teaching about the world beyond the hypothetical and the ideal. The world doesn't do enough about providing healthier, more readily available sources of food.
I don't know anything about the Edible Schoolyard, so I have no idea how this would be carried out.
I suppose its success depends on how big a crop the students have to handle, and whether they're responsible for every step from sowing to harvest (who's in charge on the weekends and when school is out?).

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Permalink Reply by Jason Bean on May 6, 2009 at 10:01pm

I think the idea of kids both learning what it takes to tend the garden and the discipline and hard work, would be a great thing to pursue in schools. I've thought about doing something similar to that in our church and have the kids and teens manage the garden. The food harvested could be both given to family in needs and/or sold to members of the church to help pay for the various events that teens attend through the church. Having the local school systems support local businesses and farmers would be an additional benefit.

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Permalink Reply by Martin Klco on May 6, 2009 at 10:12pm

Absolutely great idea! Good luck trying to convince IPS to do anything that makes sense.

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Permalink Reply by Anne Robinson on May 6, 2009 at 10:12pm

This is worth pursuing even if the outcome is not what is envisioned or expected. Urban gardening is a nascent movement, and if that urban gardening teaches youth about nutrition and their connection to the earth, it is a hot topic--potentially grant-worthy. Children need to learn about health, the earth, and the vital connection between the two. There is something to pursue here--even if IPS students don't always enjoy (?) organic greens for lunch.

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Permalink Reply by Julie L. Rhodes on May 6, 2009 at 10:14pm

I personally WHOLE-HEARTEDLY support this concept. We are actually promoting farm to schools programs as part of the mission of the Indy Food Cooperative. There is significant data showing the direct link between childhood obesity and lack of access to healthy food options. Obese children become obese adults. Obese adults get diabetes, heart disease, etc. In other words, it's critical that we teach children at a very young age about healthy eating, and that doesn't come in the form of a health class. In comes in the form of kids understanding where there food comes from, tending it, and eating it straight from the garden. My son is 4.5, we are vegetarians and health food enthusiasts, and he eats a wide variety of foods -- Indian, Thai, Mexican, Asian, Italian, Greek, American, etc. Sure, he loves a good veggie burger and Mac & Cheese as much as the next kid, but has a varied palette. He eats a lot of vegetables well, and we have a great time planting, tending to, picking and eating a wide variety of fresh foods from our little urban backyard gardens. We go to the farmer's markets and we talk about in-season food, and we try preparing things many different ways so that he understands how even if he doesn't like something prepared one way, that doesn't mean that he couldn't like it prepared other ways. There is a huge disconnect between healthy eating in low-income communities in Indy (which is exactly why we are putting the Indy Food Co-op in the middle of a current food desert on Indy's near east side). But, there are many hurdles to overcome to get people (of all income levels) to eat healthier, including time (many people want an instant meal), taste (many people didn't grow up eating healthy), access, cost (a HUGE barrier - healthy food is not cheap food), convenience (people want what they want year-round and struggle with eating seasonally), exotics (many people do not know what to do with an eggplant or even fresh green beans), and the list could go on. In other words, those of us working on these issues need to be working at both ends....helping convert parents by overcoming the real and perceived challenges, as well as getting kids on board early to taste, enjoy and request fresh, local foods. There's really no reason "edible schoolyard" cannot happen here. But IPS and the bureaucrats need to embrace this instead of standing in the way. p.s. I really enjoyed Alice Waters when she spoke at IMA - thanks for helping bring her in and for the work you are doing!

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Permalink Reply by Ashley Kersh-Fletcher on May 6, 2009 at 10:14pm

The idea is great. I am speaking as a parent that has packed a lunch for my daughter for years now. She won't eat most of it and eating w/her on several occasions at school, I know why. After reading some of the other replies from members I too wonder about the ability to tend and harvest with our weather conditions. Regardless, better more healthy lunches would be an asset for our children. I might add that the obesity rate in children is growing and while I don't believe it is ONLY school lunches that contribute, it is certainly a place to start and provide a good healthy meal for children.

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Permalink Reply by Neal Brown on May 6, 2009 at 10:24pm

Ashley, I echo your sentiments. Last year childhood obesity actually plateaued for the first time in a decade, which is good news, but it is a delicate balance that could easily be tipped the other way yet again. I think it is very important to understand that this project would take DECADES to actually alter the state of Hoosier Kids diets, but, if you can have an impact on kids, ESPECIALLY, the underserved populations that get the vast majority of their foods from the public school system, then a difference has been made. Thanks for all of the kick-ass comments!

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Permalink Reply by Tasha C. Ring on May 6, 2009 at 10:28pm

I think this is a wondeful idea and a great lesson for children and adults alike! However, considering the current state of IPS, where will funds come from to support this project? Some might say that IPS has bigger fish to fry.....

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Permalink Reply by Neal Brown on May 6, 2009 at 10:39pm

Tasha, this is a totally fair concern. My intent is for this to be a completely (pardon the pun) "organic" enterprise, in which materials, seed, labor, and everything else is funded through private monies. There is simply no way that we could expect IPS to be receptive to such an idea. We are circumventing IPS as a whole and going directly to school principles. We have already lined up 4 pilot schools, and I am now simply trying to organize the information/resources that is available.

If any on you is interested in this project, feel free to send me a message here. Whatever your expertise, your skills can relate to this project!

To see something really mind blowing goto http://www.chezpanissefoundation.org/staff-board
This is a list of the advisory board member for the Chez Panisse foundation in Berkeley, who's beneficiary is The Edible Schoolyard.

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Permalink Reply by Amol Dalvi on May 6, 2009 at 11:24pm

That is an excellent initiative Neal. My daughter goes to elementary school in Fishers, and I was pretty surprised to see the quality, fat content and generally poor nutritional value of lunches served in her school. Schools definitely need to serve organic as well as nutritious meals. I love the idea of students growing their own food; gardening/farming should be thought of as an essential skill.

- Amol.

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Permalink Reply by Alan Archibald on May 6, 2009 at 11:28pm

Neal, you probably know about the agriculture magnet at Manual High School (IPS) where high school students are growing food. This might be a resource connection if you have not explored already. For the purposes of discussion, some foods can be produced year round in Indiana with a little ingenuity, intensive lettuce growing in greenhouses for example. I see so many benefits: health (people worried about increased costs should do some crunching of numbers to see what activity in the garden and healthy eating does to the Medicaid costs in the state), education (most subjects can be taught experientially in the garden and some students will learn only with real world application; low income elementary students are focused on immediate results from actions, this would teach children the process of working toward something that takes time; juvenile justice (youth who contribute to a positive community asset like the school lunch program are less likely to violate the norms and laws of the community than youth who see the community as a place to receive handouts and feel that they never get enough). I won't go on, but I would say that the value of this kind of project to the community has strong potential to go way beyond better eating (as important as that is).
- Alan

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Permalink Reply by Neal Brown on May 6, 2009 at 11:38pm

Wow Alan. Maybe you could write our Mission Statement? ;) Very well said. The simple act of gardening for food can have substantial Social, Ecological, Psychological, and Economic effects.

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