No Zucchini Left Behind

While some second and third graders in South Hayward California may not know a noun from a verb, many of them, with school garden projects, know the difference between spinach and bok choy, according to San Francisco Guardian reporter Dina Maccabee.

Volunteer educators at the Willie Brown Academy Garden report that teaching kids to grow and appreciate nutritious food has resulted in “students literally begging for kale.” Could this kind of enthusiasm put a dent in the childhood obesity epidemic? Perhaps.

In the meantime, the goal at some schools is for “garden education to become institutionalized—not just a supplemental benefit. . .” but “an expected feature of the pre-college landscape.”

Millions of dollars in grant money available from the California Instructional School Garden Program may soon yield pay dirt.

Meanwhile, “green schoolyard” promoters are moving the process ahead, based on positive results “like the student at a Hayward school barbecue who traded a Butterfinger for a second helping of grilled zucchini.”

Deborah Lambert writes the Squeaky Chalk column for Accuracy in Academia.