Voices of the Movement

Stories, inspirations, and opinions from the edible education movement.

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The Pinnacle of My Experience This Year, by Nick Lee

Posted March 20, 2013

Thirty students are buzzing with excitement. Waiting outside the classroom door, they are discussing rumors of kale, broccoli, chard, and beets. Every spring the kitchen at Edible Schoolyard Berkeley transforms into Kitchen Stadium, where 300 seventh graders get a chance to compete in Iron Chef, the final and culminating lesson for seventh grade. Every student, teacher, judge, and guest to the kitchen knows this is a serious, respected challenge.

Approaching Our One-Year Anniversary at Edible Sac High, by Erika Dimmler

Posted March 13, 2013

Erika Dimmler is the project manager for Edible Sac High. She is also a FUSE Corps fellow working with the Office of Mayor Kevin Johnson and Greenwise Joint Venture.

Watermelons. Broccoli. Beans. Squash. If the students of Sacramento Charter High School get their way, there will be an abundance of fruits and vegetables from their school garden by summer.

Success Through School Food and Beyond, by Raymond Isola & John and Lolita Casazza

Posted March 6, 2013

On the edge of San Francisco’s Mission District is Sanchez College Preparatory School, an elementary school that is working to address issues of hunger, poor nutrition, and deteriorating health within one of the city's most affected populations. The school has a child development center that has established a unique community-based program to improve nutrition and health habits for its 300 students and their families.

Greening Sacramento: An Interview with Master Gardener Bill Maynard, by the Edible Schoolyard Project

Posted February 26, 2013

Bill Maynard is a Sacramento County Master Gardener, a volunteer Master Gardener for the Sacramento County Cooperative Extension, the Community Garden Program Coordinator for the City of Sacramento Department of Parks and Recreation Community Garden, Founder of the Sacramento Area Community Garden Coalition

The Men of China Hill, by Matt Hahn

Posted February 22, 2013

Below is a winning student essay from Edible Education 103, a fall semester course taught by Michael Pollan at UC Berkeley's School of Journalism. We would like to acknowledge and congratulate all six winning authors: Michele Gabbay Forman, Jillian Reese, Matt Hahn, Elena Gasparini, Nikolas Soelter, and Maddisen Ravalin! Today's cross-post is "The Men of China Hill," by Matt Hahn. These stories were originally produced on the storytelling platform Cowbird.

A Community-wide Effort: How We Built Our Learning Garden, by Michael McKinney

Posted February 20, 2013

Where do seeds come from?
Can you really eat a flower?
What is that plant and what do you do with it?
Why do butterflies like some flowers but not others?
Why doesn’t an eggplant look or taste like an egg?

These are some of the many questions students wondered as they planned, created, and maintained our school garden at Miles Davis Magnet Academy. (Of course, the most common question asked is: Can I eat it now?)

Junior Iron Chef Vermont Inspires Farm to School Action, by Vera Chang

Posted February 19, 2013

Fourteen hundred attendees stream into the Champlain Valley Exposition in Essex Junction, VT. The air carries the spirited atmosphere of a hockey arena. It’s a frigid, February Saturday morning, with no helmets or skates in sight. Seventy-four middle and high school teams from 55 schools across Vermont don chef’s hats and colorful uniforms and await their signal to begin cooking. Ready, set, chop! Carrots are launched into food processors, rutabagas cubed on cutting boards, and parsnips ready to become soup.

Sips & Suppers Strengthens D.C. Community, by Alex Moore

Posted February 14, 2013

Food brought people together at this year’s Sips & Suppers benefit. On January 26th, Washington D.C.’s Newseum was abuzz with meaningful messaging and magnificent food, as more than 800 people descended on downtown to sample small plates while event founder and co-host, Alice Waters, called for a “delicious revolution.”

An Independent Work Experience, by Monica Linzner, Justin Owens, and Stella Wilson-Hamaker

Posted February 13, 2013

The Independent Work Experience (I.W.E.) at King Middle School is an elective course for eighth-graders that allows students to work closely with individual teachers. Last spring, two seventh-grade students demonstrated initiative and approached the kitchen staff at the Edible Schoolyard about the possibility of working as I.W.E.s. Now in the eighth grade, Justin and Stella split their time between the kitchen and the garden.

An Edible Schoolyard in the Emerald City, by Jeremy Kollar and Emily Johnson

Posted February 11, 2013

October 1, 2012 marked the start of our junior year in the Landscape Architecture program at UC Davis. We sat waiting for class to begin, spinning around in our swivel chairs, excited for the start of a new academic year. Professors Elizabeth Boults and Jennifer Ivanovich entered the studio and enthusiastically announced that our project for the quarter would be to design an edible schoolyard for Sacramento Charter High School.