ecobites.com

Making your life greener - one bite at a time.

UK

Duchy Originals Garden Organic for Schools is a nationwide program which helps children to grow vegetables at school and to learn more about their food. Participating schools are encouraged to establish manageable gardens within or near their grounds. Practical gardening activities are supported by educational resources specifically developed for students and teachers. These include an informative website, print published materials, and a convenient helpline for gardening advice. Each year, the achievement of participating schools is celebrated with a competition focusing on positive qualities like enthusiasm, innovation, and cooperation. http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/schools_organic_network/

In schools throughout the United Kingdom, there is growing demand for educational programs which encourage young people to adopt positive attitudes toward highly nutritious foods. The best of these seek to emphasise the importance of how food is grown and produced.

Commencing in September, Year of Food and Farming will provide a nationwide focus for many of these endeavors. This industry led initiative was developed through the work of Farming and Countryside Education (FACE). One of its primary aims is to remove some of the barriers which separate consumers from the biological realities of the food chain. This will require the development of new links between schools, farmers, and other representatives from the food industry. With support from their local communities, schools will be encouraged to explore some of these worthwhile opportunities.

For many schools, much of the groundwork should already have been laid. Growing Schools is a popular government program dedicated to developing the potential of outdoor classrooms as a sophisticated learning environment. Within this context students are able to investigate the many facets of natural environments, sustainability, and resource protection. The experience is integrated within the curriculum schedule of diverse subject areas. For example a geography lesson may consider human influences on the local environment while a combination of scientific and mathematical learning can be delivered through outdoor lessons involving habitat research and data collection.
http://www.yearoffoodandfarming.org.uk/
http://www.organicguide.com/

Jamie Oliver is doing his work to incorporate healthier foods into British school systems. Within schools, he is working to make cooking and life-skills classes a must for all students, encouraging them to learn about food and healthy eating habits. He is working with parents and school officials to rid junk food from school cafeterias. Oliver continues to campaign for a 10-year strategic plan that will redirect people back to a proper diet and empower and persuade the public to make healthier choices. As one of Britain’s leading TV personalities, he is making health and organic “cool” for Britain’s young population. For more information on Jamie Oliver and his continued efforts, visit www.jamieoliver.com

Australia

The Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation exists to develop life-long healthier and happier eating habits in a new generation of Australians by engaging them in growing, harvesting, preparing and sharing delicious and healthy food at primary school. We are a charitable organisation that relies totally on the generosity, shared vision and commitment of schools, volunteers, foundations, government, business and individuals.

The Foundation has developed the highly successful Kitchen Garden Program for all children in Years 3-6.

I believe that the best way to improve the overall health and happiness of Australian children is by embedding an enjoyable hands-on gardening and cooking program in the primary school curriculum.

http://www.kitchengardenfoundation.org.au/

The inner-city school's 250 pupils can choose from a lunch list that looks like any other healthy canteen menu, except that it is all organic. http://www.organicfood.com.au/Content_Common/pg-organic-canteen.seo

Fresh, Organic and Prepared With Love

Each day at Erasmus School the children and staff sit down together to enjoy a morning tea and a vegetarian lunch. We use organically grown fruit and vegetables, fresh from the market.  It is lovingly prepared by a team of volunteer parents.  We believe that by giving the freshest, purest food we can nourish the body and help establish good taste.

In sitting down to eat at a table set with crockery and cutlery, the children learn table manners and how to serve each other during the meal.  The communal nature of the lunch also strengthens bonds amongst children and staff.

One school with an implicit appreciation of nutrition is Erasmus in Hawthorn.  This private primary school offers its students a daily lunch that is at once giddyingly tasty and nutritious by the most conscientious standard. “I do look forward to falafel days”, says teacher Simone Olsen, helping one of her students to a dish of faultless, velvety hummus.  “I’m not only grateful that my students have such wonderful food each day, I look forward to the culinary journey myself.”
That culinary journey takes an organic, vegetarian route and is overseen entirely by volunteer parents... http://www.erasmus.vic.edu.au/

USA

Imagine lunch hour at a Berkeley middle school: Eighth graders tossing salad side by side with cafeteria workers, seventh graders eating the chard they grew in the school garden while receiving a geography lesson, sixth graders sorting seeds to plant for the next harvest.

Every morsel is organic, locally grown and guaranteed not to plunge Berkeley Unified into bankruptcy.
http://www.organicconsumers.org/school/school-lunch.cfm