School Cafeterias

Inspired by the Bezos Scholars Program at the Aspen Ideas Festival, School Greens, is tackling the issue of a healthier future – from starting “Meatless Mondays,” to make students aware of the impacts of their food choices, to launching a rooftop garden this May to increase access to healthy food and green space. We’re changing school policy, and in the process we’re hoping to change the mindsets of our community members.

Recipe for Success Foundation's Seed-to-Plate Nutrition Education™ has taught over 16,000 Houston elementary children how to grow, harvest, and cook their own healthy food. A growing list of 80 high-profile Houston chefs volunteer their time to help. The only initiative in the country of it's scope, the RFS Seed-to-Plate Nutrition Education™ program introduces children to the entire cycle of food along with taste and flavor combinations, techniques, and skills that will serve them for a lifetime, and empowers them to prepare healthy meals and snacks for themselves.

As a cookbook author and kitchen garden designer, I see opportunities for schools to create beautiful gardens that go beyond growing basic food. I work with school gardeners who seek creative ways to build edible garden areas to invite the whole school community to spend time outdoors connecting to the food that is grown miraculously from a small seed.
 

The Powell GT Magnet gardens and outdoor classrooms are educational spaces and part of our initiative to create a local food system that is based on community empowerment through education. We have partnered with Sixth Sun (www.sixthsun.co) and NCSU landscape design department to design and build gardens and outdoor classrooms at our elementary school in Raleigh, North Carolina.  Eventually our outdoor courtyard space will also have a rain garden, pollinator gardens and an outdoor stage for theatrical productions and concerts.