What Is School kitchen garden?
The School Kitchen Garden program provides students, grades K-5, with comprehensive food-based education that supports farm-to-table values and instills lifelong habits of health and wellness.
The Garden of Wonders is planted, tended, harvested, and studied by over 500 students who use it as a learning laboratory year-round. The garden and classroom kitchen serve as a lens for studying math, science, health, ecology, art, history, social studies, and so much more. Garden lessons are teacher-approved, rigorous, vetted, and require minimal preparation, training, and equipment.
A full-time garden teacher connects garden- and food-based activities with lesson plans aligned with Common Core State Standards, and a garden afterschool program extends the kitchen-garden learning laboratory experience. |
The garden as ClassroomStudents learn in an outdoor environment every day, in sun or in rain. They design garden plots, learn to identify plants, discover worms and ladybugs, and develop an understanding of soil and compost. They enjoy projects such as hatching and raising chicks, growing plants from seed, creating artwork, and conducting science experiments.
In the garden setting, students learn everything from plant botany and healthy eating to soil biology and seed saving. The process of this learning delves into hands-on scientific experiments, ecology exercises, social studies in hunger and food insecurity, and more. |
Classroom cooking projects link garden to kitchen in an experiential approach that builds student engagement and advances learning. The classroom kitchen setting provides ample opportunities for braving new tastes, preparing wholesome and delicious food, and learning to read food labels and recipes. Food is harvested straight from the garden as students learn to try new tastes and prepare healthy meals and snacks.
Basic food preparation and cooking skills are fundamental to wellness, health, and safety. These skills are taught to all students in all grades. Tasting food that comes from the garden is integral to the program. Many recipes from class are available for download to enjoy at home.
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Teaching kids how to feed themselves
and how to live in a community responsibly
is the center of an education.
– Alice Waters
The Kitchen Benefits
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THE GARDEN BENEFITS
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