Model and Strategy
For 20 years the Edible Schoolyard Project has led the national movement to transform the health and academic experience of students in America by training educators how to use kitchens and gardens as interactive classrooms, and advocating for a sustainable, delicious, and free lunch for every student.
From their demonstration site in Berkeley, ESYP has engaged thousands of middle-school students in hands-on kitchen and gardening classes, showing that when schools prioritize health and social well-being alongside academic goals, and extend their mission to involve families and communities, students thrive.
ESYP’s newest effort brings their tested edible education model to high school, where most students go off campus to eat at bodegas or fast food outlets. “Growing Up” will engage 8th-to-12th-grade students to build agency and rethink their school food experience by designing new programs and policies to support fresh, from-scratch cooking in the cafeteria and beyond.
Impact
Engaging children in a healthy relationship with food and nature is a vital responsibility that falls increasingly to schools. A broadly shared commitment to edible education is key to solving the urgent issues of social inequity that we face. When schools nourish health and social well-being along with academic goals, and extend their mission to include families and communities, students excel across a spectrum of criteria.
Our 2010 school-food study shows that parents with children in schools that couple school-lunch improvements with classroom learning and cooking/gardening classes were more likely than those in schools with less-developed programs to say that school affected their child’s food knowledge, attitudes, and behavior. Specifically, 60% said school changed their child’s knowledge about healthy food choices (compared to 36% in less-developed programs), 42% said school changed their child’s attitudes about food (compared to 19%), and 35% said school improved their child’s eating habits (compared to 16%).
By focusing on children and teachers, and by using schools as the entry point for education about and access to delicious and nutritious foods, edible education not only provides students with the knowledge to make choices that support their health, the health of their communities, and the health of the planet, but provides students the opportunity to do so. Moreover, students become leaders: They take on the challenges of addressing—even repairing—inequality in their communities and understanding the critical relationship between humans and the natural world.
Leadership
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David Chai
Executive Director
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Kyle Cornforth
Managing Director