Okay so our schoolyard is not edible. And that picture under the heading was not taken outside my classroom, but rather from Walnut Farm in the UK. This is just a dream, a vision, but one that might save our lives. Our chubby, cholesterol-stricken, diabetic lives. This dream is coming to fruition all over the country. Lakewood Elementary is making huge strides in St. Petersburg, FL. (http://theedibleschoolyard.blogspot.com/).New Orleans is also host to a thriving edible garden (http://www.esynola.org/). PS216 inBrooklyn also has some boastable botanicals. http://www.inhabitat.com/2010/02/01/brooklyn-edible-schoolyard/

Very inspirational!!

Why bother with this?
Despite being more educated than ever before, America is pervasively ignorant on the effects their bad eating habits are having on their bodies, and consequently, super fat and chronically sick.
According to the CDC, childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past 30 years. http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/index.html

This generation is the first EVER, that has a life expectancy that is shorter than their parents.

The goal of this blog is to document our journey of revolutionizing our eating habits, starting with our most eager, hopeful, and impressionable population: our children.

Here are some potential obstacles that face this heroic endeavor:

1. Kids hate (or at least seem to hate) vegetables. The other day I was eating pea pods in front of a child and it appeared to offend him on a deep and perverse level.
2. Their food is already mandated by the government to include overly processed foods, very little fresh ingredients, and zero organic produce. Basically, it’s THE LAW to eat crap and get fat.
3. Being employed by the afore mentioned government, I run the risk of pissing off my bosses (like by calling school lunch crap) and I might back down from this initiative.

Here are some potential bonuses that support this heroic endeavor:

1. The school where I work is brand new, open to ideas, and is dead broke (the bonusness of this part comes in later).
2. There is already time set aside during the day for enrichment, meaning just this type of thing, and can be easily incorporated into a weekly routine.
3. This idea is taking off all over the country, pioneering in California by Alice Waters , who wrote a book entitled Edible Schoolyard, hence this blog. http://www.edibleschoolyard.org/journal/
4. Stuff (see below)

So far here’s what we got:
Support in the form of professional help and dedicated time by the Master Gardeners of Georgia.
Items listed on donorschoose.org, (search donorschoose, search athens, ga, gardening) some of which have already been fulfilled.
Monetary donations from Master Gardeners of Georgia.
Volunteers and donated supplies.

Starting in March, this will really kick off with weekly meetings and actions steps to get seeds in the ground as well as in the minds of the children. I am so excited about this I’m bursting like an overripe tomato. Thanks for checking in, this blog will be updated weekly as new developments arise and momentum builds.

Want to be part of the momentum? Come out and help us dig. Give us some stuff from donorschoose.org. Write your congressman and help reopen and revise the Child Nutrition Act. Here’s a link that will help you do this, it basically writes the letter for you and gives you the address of your congressman, it takes 90 seconds.

Sign the Hungry for Change petition by clicking on this link.
http://www.foodincmovie.com/sign-the-petition.php

Eat better. Educate yourself. Be the change and THRIVE.