Principles of Edible Education from the Edible Schoolyard Garden
I love Alice Waters‘ book, Edible Schoolyard: A Universal Idea. Worth noting (below) are the principles of Edible Education that she lays out in the book.
Food is an Academic Subject
A school garden, kitchen, and cafeteria are integral to the core academic mission of the school, so that ecology and gastronomy help bring alive every subject, from reading and writing to science and art.
School Provides Lunch for Every Child
From preschool through high school, every child is served a wholesome, delicious meal, every day. Good food is a right not a privilege. Providing it every day brings children into a positive relationship with their health, their community, and the environment.
Schools Support Farms
School cafeterias buy seasonally fresh food from local, sustainable farms and ranches, not only for reasons of health and education, but as a way of strengthening local food economies.
Children Learn by Doing
Hands-on education, in which the children themselves do the work in the vegetable beds and on the cutting boards, awakens their senses and opens their minds, both to their core academic subjects and to the world around them.
Beauty is a Language
A beautifully prepared environment, where deliberate thought has gone into everything from the garden paths to the plates on the tables, communicates to children that we care about them.
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