Edible Schoolyard and New Orleans: A Recipe For Success

"When the hearts and minds of our children are captured by a school lunch curriculum, enriched with experience in the garden, sustainability will become the lens through which they see the world." Alice Waters

As a way to energize and revive a curriculum and an urban community that was prey to Hurricane Katrina's aftermath, a small charter school that teaches 360 poor lower- and middle-school students has become a model for the Edible Schoolyard program. Founded by sustainable earth advocate and renowned chef, Alice Waters, the initial curriculum-based Edible Schoolyard program was established in 1994 at a school in Berkeley, CA. It's goal, by design, "is to connect students with the earth, the environment, and an eclectic group of adults outside their traditional classroom." With initial support from Chef Waters' nonprofit Chez Panisse Foundation, the Samuel J. Green charter school in New Orleans was able to establish an edible garden last year. In the garden, students are involved in all aspects of planting, growing and harvesting. In their kitchen-classroom, they prepare, serve, and eat food—some of which they have grown themselves. These activities are integrated into the curriculum and are now part of their school day.

"Teachers use the experience for lessons in nutrition, biology, math and even the social sciences" as they learn about local foods and how they're produced with hands-on experience. This year, the charter school has realized the fruits of their labor; today the schoolyard garden boasts a full menu of fruit and vegetables such as tomatoes, herbs, fennel, strawberries and watermelon. According to Donna Cavuto, the school's director, "The Edible Schoolyard is a story of rebirth, a chance for kids and adults to reclaim their land and also be part of the community they've lost." For more information about The Edible Schoolyard/New Orleans, click here.

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