I wrote this for my other blog, Blossom Herbs, but wanted to share it here too. Happy 50th Earth Day! Check out the official website for Earth Day which lists activities all around the world: https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-2020/. Considering these are pretty … Continue reading
This article talks about home gardening which is great, but school gardens can also be a way to get kids out in nature, asking questions, getting dirty, and learning.
Planting a garden can affect not only your child’s body but also their brain and soul. Source: Gardening with Kids: How It Affects Your Child’s Brain, Body and Soul via Gardening with Kids: How It Affects Your Child’s Brain, Body and Soul — The School Garden Doctor
This article is so inspiring. The EUSD, a school district in southern California, not only is growing its own food for lunches on district land, and having all the students be part of the experience through day long activities and lessons, they are also certified organic and have partnered with a natural food store so that they can sell their extra produce and raise money for the program. Innovative partnering can really make an edible schoolyard successful. Read the full article on Slow Food USA‘s website.
A 25 year old is reducing plastic waste one celebratory event at a time. From festivals to sports matches to concerts, plastic cups and bags leave their lasting mark on our earth long after the fun is over. Ryan Everton is one young person who is working to fix that problem. Check out this story on his great idea here.
We can all make a difference, whether it’s one seed, one cup, or one bag at a time. Here’s the website for Globelet, (Everton’s company). I hope it inspires you to carry on with your own personal endeavors for betterment, whether they be personal, community oriented, or working to save the environment.
Also, if you look at where Globelet is located in Australia, their address includes this gorgeous word: WOOLLOOMOOLOO. Best address ever.
I wrote this a couple of years ago on my other blog, http://www.spiceoflifeblog.com, but it actually belongs on this space.
If you have a child in school these days then you surely have heard of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math.) It’s the big thing right now~ there are STEM schools, STEM measurements, and people compare the STEM-ness of schools when making decisions about where their child will go. Personally, I’m wondering where creativity fits into science, technology, engineering, and math. It seems to me innovation is tied to creativity and we need to foster that in our children just as much as the other things. Not only that, but creativity gives people the space to appreciate art, music, literature, and all the things that still exist beyond our screens. Our kids will be proficient in computers, that’s a given, but do we really want to tie our futures so inseparably with modern technology? Has there really been nothing of use in the world up until the computer chip was invented? What about the natural world? Science seems centered on dissecting it, but what about giving kids the chance to appreciate it? Breathe it. Realize they live in it along with billions of other beings and need to think about that fact. An example of what I’m talking about is the fact our school district does not have art teachers. There are volunteer parents that go in and teach art to classes at most once per month, but often a lot less. Why are we teaching these kids that art in not that important? They have music and PE and library at least once per week, but art for some reason is not valued enough to have at least a weekly class with a trained teacher. This just blows my mind. Kids get so much out of art class and I’m not just referring to the kids who are gifted in it. When I go in and help with art lessons I’m always struck by the highly intellectual students who are astounded they can make something aesthetically pleasing with their own hands, and the hyper-active students who can focus on something that is truly their own, and the quiet students who love being able to work on something as an individual and not be overwhelmed with the constant group activities that are also so vogue in modern education. It gives students a place to pause and consider what art means to them, to recognize every single one of them has some creativity and how good it feels to express it, and to understand it is valuable to work on something purely for aesthetic reasons. These are just a few of things that I see falling out of schools in favor of STEM, and I’d like to propose a post-STEM environment focused on Creativity and Nature. Computers will be integrated in their lives more and more with textbooks changing into tablets, research done on Google, Kindergarteners giving PowerPoint presentations~ that’s all part of the modern world and I’m not trying to stop it, there just needs to be some focus on what goes on outside of a screen and perhaps inside of a head. Of course, I have to bring up the Edible Schoolyard Project as I so often do because it embraces nature and creativity both in such a beautiful balance, and in an increasingly teched-out world kids need to be reminded of the importance of these things. Isn’t education about expanding the mind after all…? It certainly can’t just be about learning how to use a single tool. Our kids are brighter than that and they deserve more.
Enjoy this lovely little article on how school gardens change kids’ opinions on eating vegetables in Brazil from Public Radio International. It seems to be universal that children who grow vegetables, eat vegetables. Let’s make this happen at every school, whether it’s a whole schoolyard garden or some containers around the buildings. This is so do-able and is one of those things has a multitude of positive outcomes far beyond the effort that goes into it.
Every single time I read something by or about Alice Waters or see her speak I’m inspired. That lady does not disappoint and as far as inspiration goes, she’s limitless. This interview with Alice Waters offers a small taste of her highly evolved understanding of food, but the last paragraph is my favorite. So simple. I hope Huffington post’s Alain Elkann who authored the piece doesn’t mind if I quote it here:
“I always have imagined food to be the answer. The way to solve the problems is through food. Problems of health, poverty, global warming, wars. Edible education is to teach children the essential values of sustainability, nourishment and communication. I believe that the whole world has to be educated. Every decision we make is a very political decision. If we change the way we eat, we will have tremendous effect. We should all be able to cook. Finding ingredients is 85-90 percent of cooking, but it is easy to cook.” ~Alice Waters
We could all use a reminder to slow down and think about what we are putting into our mouths and the mouths of our loved ones. With the pace of this modern world I know I personally could use a reminder everyday.
My sons planted our veggie garden last week on Earth Day. They enjoyed every dirty minute of it which was beautiful to see.
Then this weekend I had an experience which showed me just how confused kids can be on food and where it comes from. I was putting an ice tray with fresh water back in the freezer when my youngest came over for some ice. I told him to get a different tray because the one I had in my hands was just water and needed to freeze. His face brightened with amazement as he said, “Oh! That’s great! You can make your own ice!” I asked him where he had thought the ice in our trays came from and he said, “I thought you bought them.” Aha.
In other news, and it turns out this is old news from 2010 but I just now heard about it; Bolivia passed a law ensuring the Earth has rights, and declaring it a living system. Brilliant, right?! It seems like a no-brainer and yet it is considered the first such law. The law also states that the earth is of ‘public interest’ and has individual rights as a living system which are to be defended by human representatives. Congratulations to Bolivia for their bold and forward-thinking move. I do hope other countries are following their example.
If you are headed to Milan this summer (lucky you!) be sure to take a look at Slow Food’s set-up at Expo 2015. I love how it specifically targets young farmers~ they are the ones who will make the biggest changes to make a difference. I love the whole concept of Slow Food and am kind of eternally in awe that it is such a large movement. It really saves my faith in humanity sometimes, when I get bummed out about the way things are going…it’s nice to remember that there are over 1,000,000 people supporting the Slow Food movement.
Save Biodiversity. Save the Planet. – Slow Food at Expo 2015.
It seems like everyone is ready to start thinking about Springtime! Here’s a great way to spend some cold hours while February works it’s thawing magic at least in some parts of the country. Here in the Pacific Northwest February is when crocuses start popping their uninvited but much appreciated heads up from their deep sleep. This is always the first sign up life in my yard, and I treasure each perfect purple blossom. Check out the Edible Schoolyard’s Edible Education 101 lecture series. There are different lectures each week so you can choose which interest you. I’m looking forward to sharing bits and pieces of Michael Pollan’s video which can be accessed still on their website.
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