The Atlantic Attacks School Garden Programs
I almost don’t know how to respond to something that is so absurd, misinformed and misguided!
In reading Caitlin Flanagan’s article in the Atlantic (http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/201001/school-yard-garden ), I found myself shaking my head over and over and wondering if anyone involved in writing or editing the article actually worked with kids in gardens or in the school food arena as a whole.
For the past 10 years I’ve been working to ensure that every child in our country has access to a delicious/nutritious breakfast and lunch every day. This is REALLY hard work. For the tens of thousands of dedicated women and men across the country who are working to promote these efforts – it is a Herculean task. We don’t have enough money. Assuring the quality, source and safety of the food is an enormous task. Most of our equipment is ancient, most of our staff need training in “whole” foods and cooking and we face the gargantuan task of marketing healthy food to kids.
Our children watch over 10,000 commercials a year for non-nutrient foods. These commercials, which cost between $15B – $20B per year, are bought and paid for by large corporations bent on selling more and more and more high fat, high salt, high sugar foods to our kids – and now our kids are “hooked.” So on top of all of the challenges school food people face, changing our children’s relationship to their food could be the most challenging.
When I began this work, I was heavily influenced by Alice Water’s Edible Schoolyard (http://www.edibleschoolyard.org ) as well as the National Farm to School Program (http://www.farmtoschool.org ) and when I moved from NY to CA, I began to work with Alice’s Chez Panisse Foundation (http://www.chezpanissefoundation.org ). One thing became clear – if we want our children to embrace healthy food, if we want them to think veggies, fruits and whole grains are as cool as hot cheetos, gummy bears, soda and fast food – then we need to engage them in the process and in my estimation the most successful way of doing that is through cooking and gardening classes.
In Berkeley, Water’s Edible Schoolyard was only one of the gardens in our school district. In fact, we had gardens in every school and all of them (except Edible) were under my purview. It’s amazing what happens with children in gardens. The delight at fresh food that really tastes like food, the camaraderie around shared work, the “playing field” that’s leveled among all students no matter their home life, but most of all, their joy in seeing and knowing and experiencing where their food comes from.
During my tenure in Berkeley we were able to entirely transition the food program from one of highly processed foods to one where fresh fruits, fresh veggies, whole grains and clean protein held sway and we were able to triple participation over a four year period. I credit this success in large part to our gardens which were funded by the Network for a Healthy California (http://www.cdph.ca.gov/programs/CPNS/Pages/AboutUs.aspx ). Our dedicated garden teachers worked with students of all ages and to see the kids making Weedos (sorrel, herbs and flowers wrapped like Burritos) in the garden, pulling carrots and asking for Kale – was truly amazing and inspiring.
Although I can expound on the anecdotal evidence of the importance of kids gardening and cooking, I’m happy to say that we actually have evaluation results from a study done by the UC Berkeley Center for Weight and Health that verifies the success of the program. The report states “Among schools participating in the School Lunch Initiative, students who ate school lunch consumed over 3 times as many vegetables as children who brought lunch from home.” (http://www.chefann.com/html/tools-links/BUSD.html )
There are so many reasons to be optimistic about school food these days. From Michelle Obama’s White House Garden (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/12/white-house-garden-michel_n_419763.html ) to the USDA’s “Know Your Farmer Know Your Food” (http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/knowyourfarmer?navid=KNOWYOURFARMER ) program to the new allocations for Farm to School Programs both nationally within individual states. With all of the good/positive energy and momentum we seem to have, that I hope will result in healthy children all across our country; it seems so disrespectful and even bordering on disingenuous not to mention misinformed of the Atlantic to write a story that is just so wrong.
I hope that they will relook at this issue and perhaps write a story that truly helps all of our children to make life-long wellness choices and to all be the best they can be in life – no matter their background.
Excellent points Ann. I have not read the article but have that issue. It is rather surprising that they published something that bad!
Contrary to what Ms. Flanagan implied in her article, children can learn a great deal in the garden, and it will not necessarily deprive them of the vital knowledge and skills they need to graduate from high school. I have seen children of various backgrounds come together to study soil, plant seeds, measure things like water, nutrient and bacteria levels in the soil, measure and record growth of plants, extrapolate the potential yield of their crops (hmmm, math skills? language skills? working as a group?). The garden is very much a labratory at our public school (K-8th grade. I have observed some of the shyest kids overcome their language barrier both in the garden and in the art room, and it gives them the confidence to achieve more academically. Their pride in what they accomplish through hands-on experience shines through and the skills they acquire through that experience can be applied to other areas of learning with great success. The purpose of these school gardens is to complement the academic environment, the support it, not the other way around. Anyone who discounts the potential benefit from this living labratory isn’t really seeing it. Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day; teach him how to fish and he’ll eat forever.
I and many others had the same reaction to that piece in the Atlantic.
http://www.theslowcook.com/2010/01/12/the-evils-of-school-gardens/
[...] Reactions to the Atlantic piece are pouring in. Read here, here and here. [...]
GOOOO Ann and brava! Shame on the Atlantic for wasting the ink and killing trees to publish such inflammatory shite.
Perhaps the author was not aware that many scientists start out as gardeners.
Thanks for bringing this poorly researched article to my attention. I managed to read it all, how can someone allegedly qualified to write and do research,write such drivel?
When a conservative plants a garden, cans peaches or bakes bread it is a sign of wise economy and good living. When a liberal does the same thing it is a sign of their elitist disconnect with ‘real people’ and/or their Maoist ideologue re-educationist tendencies…WHAT a surprise!
I am so disappointed with The Atlantic for publishing this crap.
What an absolutely appalling article from The Atlantic. I cannot believe they (anyone) would publish something like that. The author says, “American kids are fatter and sicker than ever.” How does she blatantly miss the fact that school gardening programs do much to address those problems, not to mention the basic skills that such programs teach.
Her focus on state exams is equally absurd. Almost any teacher will tell you that state exams are a joke, and that real education suffers when you’re forced to design a curriculum that maximizes standardized state test scores.
Argh!
After watching “SuperSize Me” a few years back, I was struck by the idea of school gardening. Then I went to Eagle Rock School in Estes Park, Colorado and saw firsthand the impact eating healthy had on students.
This is a program that every school district must use. Frustrating is how many schools “teach to the test,” and provide no applicable, hands on modeling for students, which would actually help many of them to … do better on a test than rote learning.
Students need this style of education!
Thank you!! I read the article as well and commented on how wrong the author was. Love that so many people are standing up to show their support of school gardens.
[...] Reactions to the Atlantic piece are pouring in. Read here, here and here. [...]
I am grateful for that New Yorker article about Ann Cooper I read some years back that launched me in a positive direction, and I’m honored to have visited the Edible Schoolyard and Ann Copper’s kitchen when she was still at the helm in Berkeley.
Thanks, Ann, for all your efforts toward the health of our students.
Thank you Ann! You definitely have put into words what I feel deep inside too about that article! Wish I was more articulate and I would have replied to that article too.
There’s so much to take issue with in Flanagan’s piece, it’s hard to know where to begin. But thanks for sharing your considerable insights. My take on her faulty logic, along with some additional school gardening resources, in this post: http://reinventingpbl.blogspot.com/2010/01/dirt-on-school-gardens.html
Hope you’ve seen Andrew Leonard’s great article in salon.com:
http://www.salon.com/tech/htww/2010/01/14/death_to_the_public_school_vegetable_garden/
Flanagan is out of her mind.
[...] check out the self-styled Renegade Lunch Lady, Ann Cooper on her blog. The Atlantic even gave their own Corby Kummer a chance to refute much of [...]
[...] check out the self-styled Renegade Lunch Lady, Ann Cooper on her blog. The Atlantic even gave their own Corby Kummer a chance to refute much of Flanagan’s [...]
Thank you for this eloquent and personal defense of school garden programs! I was likewise outraged by the Flanagan piece and appreciate your perspective based on years of work in this specific area. Brava!
[...] check out the self-styled Renegade Lunch Lady, Ann Cooper on her blog. The Atlantic even gave their own Corby Kummer a chance to refute much of Flanagan’s [...]
[...] The Atlantic Attacks School Garden Programs (chefann.com) [...]
Hello,
I am a fan of Ann but I’ll get right to the point: I am a private chef, have also been volunteering for years with kids, school gardening, cooking etc. but now I want a JOB in a farm-to-school type program; love the environment. I don’t care if I cook fulltime; have management experience etc etc. I am covering all the bases but wondering if you have suggestions for me in terms of a logical way to go about seeking jobs “in the field”? NYC 1st choice; “East Coast” 2nd choice.
Any resources, suggestions greatly appreciated.
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