Final Blog

As many of you heard during my poster presentation I was unable to get a garden started at my targeted school. I explained that the reason for this was that this particular school is dealing with budget cuts, like all over public schools in the state, and they are trying to consolidate with another school in the area. For these reasons the topic of a school garden was not something they were ready to discuss this year at least. Hopefully with the few people I have discussed this idea with, they can reintroduce the school garden ideas in the years to come.

I have learned a lot during this semester about the way we look at food as a nation. We are successfully eating ourselves to death by eating this cheap food that comes from our overproduction of crops. If we take away some of the corn fields and replace them with vegetable fields or fruit orchards we would eat better food and not be so dependent on other nations for our fruits and vegetables. I feel if more people knew the facts about our food system and how little our government is doing to help they would be willing to start a true food revolution.

With all this information I have learned I the need to share it with my family and friends. Also I would like to continue researching and working towards getting more edible schoolyards in our state. If we can teach student to do geometry and chemistry we can teach them how to grow, cook, and eat healthy safe food. As Joel Salatin said in Food, Inc., imagine if we measured success by having less people going to the hospital this year than the year before, that is a noble goal. Shouldn’t that be our goal?

Poster Information

Here is all the information from my poster if anyone is interested:

The Problem:
The US Food System:
The way we eat food in this country has changed drastically in the last 50 years. We can now grow 200 bushel per acre when we could only grow 20 a hundred years ago. This is due to genetically modifying seeds as well as pesticides and herbicides.

We can now also “grow” chickens twice as fast as 50 years ago. And since white meat is what is in demand chickens now grow with larger breasts, so large in fact they can’t take more than 2 or 3 steps with out plopping down. With pork and ground beef we can feed them subsides corn very cheap which makes them fat and the meat prices go down. The average American eats 200lbs of meat a year. And a few companies control the beef, pork, and poultry industries. Four companies control 80% of the beef market.  Tyson is the largest meat company in the world.

As a result of feeding cows corn a harmful strain of E coli has developed. Studies show that if a corn fed cow is allowed to eat grass for 5 days they can lose 80% of the E coli in their stomachs. But this is not done, they find new ways to “wash” the meat with chlorine to kill the E coli. So we get cheap beef from corn fed cows. Now the more than 12,000 McDonald’s and 7,500 Burger Kings can sell food extremely cheap which then leads to health problems.

The biggest predictor of obesity is income level. Today, 10% of income spent of food in the US, half the amount that was spent 50 years ago. More than sixty-six percent of all Americans are considered overweight, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Body Mass Index over 25 = obese). One in three children born in the 2000s will have early onset diabetes, 1 out of 2 in minority children. Twenty-five years ago, the average American consumed about 1,850 calories each day, now over 2,150.

What is the government doing?
Between 1995 and 2004 the US government paid $144 billion in agriculture subsidies. So they are spending money on agriculture practices that produce surplus grain that we feed to cows that could make us sick. If a plant is sending out contaminated products whether it is E coli or salmonella, the FDA does not have the right to shut them down, even if they repeatedly make people sick.

The government also gave companies the right to patent seeds, which is essentially patenting life. Over 90% of the soybeans grown in the US are Monsanto soybeans, which contain a patented gene. In 1996, it was only 2%. Supreme Court Justice, Clarence Thomas, was a Monsanto attorney. He also helped with the passing of the bill that said a company could patent a seed. Now if a farmer plants his own, non-Monsanto seeds, and those crops become pollinated by his neighbors Monsanto seeds, Monsanto can sure him for seed stealing. And Monsanto has millions of dollars and powerful attorney’s and more often than not win these battles or force the farmers to settle out of court. They then can blacklist the farm from using their products, which are basically the only products left to buy in the market. So they take his money in court then his livelihood by not allowing him to purchase seeds needed to farm.

Both the Bush and Clinton administrations had close ties to Monsanto, whether it was donations or former high up employees. Our government is filled with those who used to work for companies which they now should be regulating.

The Solution:
Edible Schoolyards
In 1995 chef Alice Walker had the same idea and applied it in Berkley, California. As she walked past the same school everyday she began to think it was abandoned, the principle of this school then asked her to come and try a garden there. Two years later most of the asphalt was gone and in it’s place there was green. It was at King Middle School in Berkeley that the first Edible Schoolyard (ESY) was started, on one acre or land. Middle school students were not only taught about gardening but about history behind gardening and the science of cooking food. In the early years of this project there were after school cooking classes as well as cooking meals twice a month for their class.  A summer class was offered in the Edible Schoolyard. From interviews you will find that the kids in this school want to take this class. They also find they like the food that is being made with fresh, organic produce that they themselves labored for.
ESY NOLA
Edible Schoolyard New Orleans, was created using the original schoolyard in Berkely, CA. ESY NOLA came about after Hurricane Katrina. The students at two public schools, Kindergarten – 8th grade, learn cooking and gardening by hands on weekly classes. The foods cooked there are specifically meant to teach the traditional style of New Orleans.

REAL School Gardens
REAL School Gardens based in Fort Worth, Texas, serves more than 40,000 children and 2,300 educators in 66 North Texas schools and 15,000 more teachers and students in the San Francisco area. REAL stands for The Rainwater Environmental Alliance for Learning. Their website states “Our goals are to create safe outdoor spaces to engage young children, to use nature to enhance student learning, encourage family and community involvement in schools, and to create vibrant, sharing networks of educators and partners who commit to putting school gardens at the heart of urban neighborhoods.” Founded in 1996 REAL gardens not only teach students how to grow and eat healthy foods, it helps build a since of community with the families of the students as well as the community.

Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution:
Jamie Oliver is a well known British chef who, at age 34, has done some pretty remarkable things. Jamie was born in England and started working with food at a young age at his father’s pub.  At age 16 went to Westminster Catering College and spent time in Frances honing his culinary skills. After working under many chefs his first big brake was a TV series where he was known as The Naked Chef. Oliver then channeled his fame and cooking skills into working for the greater good. In 2005 Jamie made a four part documentary called Jamie’s School Dinner’s where he worked to improve the quality of Britain’s school lunches. This was part of a larger program in the UK called Feed Me Better. This program was successful in getting government money to improve school kitchens, more culinary lessons for cooks, and overall better school lunches. Oliver is very passionate about food and about teaching kids where it comes from and getting them to cook and love fresh nutritious food.

Now he is taking on America. His television show Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution takes him to Huntington, West Virginia to try and change with way this town eats and he focuses on school meals. The series is over now but he had some success in changing the way that community looks at food.

The Project:
Bern, KS
This small community would be ideal for a edible schoolyard project. It is a small farming community and there is no shortage of land for this project. I have spoke with some members of the community who show interest in this project. Since the other schoolyards I have researched are in warmer climates there would need to be activities to fill up the fall and winter that would have to do with the garden. Students could then learn about preserving food and cooking with the preserved food. Also they could research fruits and vegetables they are interested in growing and then be able to plant them in the spring. This is a basic outline of what this project would entail.

The cons to this project is that it is a farming community and they could show resistance to organic farming practices. Budgets are another con, this school is in the process of consolidating with another school in the area. This is because of state budget cuts and that takes up the majority of there meetings. They do not have a lot of time to think about projects like this. The seed has been planted in the minds of the community now, hopefully in the next year this idea will build steam and hopefully we will see a garden in the Bern, KS school in the next few years.

Grapple anyone?

Over five years ago, while I was still in high school, my sister and I discovered, in our grocery store’s produce section, a product called a grapple. It looked like an apple but the taste was something of a whole other fruit… it tasted like a grape. Well, artificial grape flavor. Everyone seemed to be curious about this new “fruit” and eager to try it. It was especially popular with teens and young children. Isn’t science great? (sarcasm) A grapple is an apple infused with grape flavor, it’s not a hybrid or a GMO but it does kind of freak you out what people are doing with foods.

What is a GMO? It is a Genetically Modified Organism whose genetic material has been changed using genetic engineering. According to Food, Inc., 70% of supermarket foods contain some GMOs. But in some places this is not the case. Some countries who have banned GMOs in some form include New Zealand, Austria, Hungary, Greece, Poland, Bulgaria, Luxemburg, Germany, France, and parts of Canada. What about the United States? One county in California have successfully banned the production of GMOs, others have tried and failed. Once again it feels as if our government does not really care what we eat.

In Food, Inc. there is a quote that says “The way we eat has changed more in the last 50 years than it had the previous 10,000. ” New sciences and technologies are the reason for this change.Throughout out the semester we have read a lot about Monsanto and their GM products as well as pesticides and herbicides. Since we all know who they are I won’t go into it but I did want to share this site with you: Millions Against Monsanto. Check it out, it is good documentation of Monsanto’s  many injustices.

And one last side note, I was very please to find out this past weekend that Ben and Jerry’s ice cream does not use cows who have been given rBGH, recombinant bovine growth hormone, a Monsanto product, that we read about in The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved. And they are working on using cage free eggs as well. Yay! Less guilt free ice cream And I’ll stick to eating apples that taste like apples and grapes that look like grapes.

And the Oscar goes to….

Now unfortunately Food, Inc. did not win the Oscar for best documentary but it was nominated this past year.  In this film you get a look into the beef, pork, and chicken industry. Also it informs about government policies that regulate what is and isn’t safe for us. They also talk some about Monsanto and how they have patented seeds and are going after anyone who saves their own seeds.

The documentary also follows the story of a mother who lost her two year old son to E coli after eating contaminated ground beef. The documentary tells us that some strains of E coli are a product of the beef industry, packing animals close together and feeding them corn. The company responsible for the beef did not recall the meet until 16 days after the son had passed away and it took the family three years to find out that they matched the recall from that company. Her son died in August of 2001 and she is still continuing to fight for plants to be held accountable for contaminated products. The law states that the FDA cannot shut down a plant even if they are continually sending out contaminated products. Does that seem right to anyone??

Joel Salatin who we read about in The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved makes many appearances throughout the film. You get to see how he ruins his farm and how his animals live. They also show how they butcher their chickens out in the open air which we are told is not sanitary. He says he had is chickens tested at a microbiology lab and they came back 133 cfu while those that had gone through chlorine baths averaged 3600cfu.

You can actually intern at his farm which is something I would love to be able to do. You can find out more at his farm’s website: http://www.polyfacefarms.com/

I don’t want to tell you too much about the film because I cannot do it justice in this review but I do encourage you all to see it, it has great information about the US food system. Some of these things we touched on in class and some we did not but it never hurts to hear things more than once, I’ve seen Food, Inc. three times and still find it informative. It just blows my mind to see how companies are more protected in this country than the people.

WATCH FOOD, INC    I think it is a documentary that everyone should see and I recommend it to all

Edible Schoolyard found in Kansas!

In Overland Park, Kansas an edible schoolyard began almost 2 years ago at the Hiersteiner Child Development Center. This center is associated with Johnson County Community College and the college advocated for the edible schoolyard. JCCC was given $21,218 from the Sunflower Foundation and another $13,000 from a private donor. The Sunflower Foundation works to improve the health for all Kansans. Unfortunately I could not find much about this center, it is a daycare, not a school and I believe it serves the children of JCCC students and well as JCCC employees. I’ll have to do some more digging and hopefully find more edible schoolyards in this area.

Check out a video about the Hiersteiner Child Development Center’s edible schoolyard HERE

This is one thing I didn’t really think about for this project. I do need to do more research about finding out if this is possible for public schools and where to get the money to start a program like this. If the state is willing to fund it that could be a big way to get schools involved. Many if not all of the public schools are facing budget cuts and would welcome funding. This funding could go towards those who would be teaching about the garden and helping in it, so additional funding could save teaching jobs.

Since we are not in California and produce does not grow year round there needs to be other activities for students while there is no planting, cooking, harvesting, preserving, etc going on. A few of my ideas include researching fruits and vegetables that students have an interest in growing. The older students can become the overseers of each of these crops and teach others how to take care of them . Also students of all ages can learn about the benefits of eating local and organic. They can research global environmental issues, as well all know that in the future   and now this information will be vital. In the late summer and fall upper level students can be taught how to preserve fruits and vegetables so they can be eaten year round. And with this preserved food they can learn to cook with these local, organic ingredients and learn about healthy eating. As a video I posted on a previous blog said, this generation of kids are expect to live a shorter life than their parents. They are expected to die of heart related diseases as well as diabetes.

I have all these good ideas, at least I think they are good. I feel that is what I am good at. I can come up with great plans and ideas but I have a hard time being able to implement them. For that I must turn to those in the community where I want to propose this edible schoolyard. Lucky for me, one of those people include my oldest sister. She is a outspoken voice in the community. So my goal over Spring Break is to talk to some of these people and see how they feel about this project and see what they may want to bring to the table. In the case of the first edible schoolyard in Berkeley, they had many community volunteers that helped make their garden a success.

Does anyone have any other suggestions of what to do during the off season in schools while nothing needs to be done outside?? All ideas welcome

Jamie Oliver is taking on America!

This I found really exciting, it is not the same thing as my project but it goes alone with it nicely. So set your DVR, if you have one, to ABC on Friday, March 26th at 8pm.

First you are probably thinking, Who is Jamie Oliver? Well he is a well known British chef who, at age 34, has done some pretty remarkable things. Jamie was born in England and started working with food at a young age at his father’s pub.  At age 16 went to Westminster Catering College and spent time in Frances honing his culinary skills. After working under many chefs his first big brake was a TV series where he was known as The Naked Chef. Oliver then channeled his fame and cooking skills into working for the greater good.

In 2005 Jamie made a four part documentary called Jamie’s School Dinner’s where he worked to improve the quality of Britain’s school lunches. This was part of a larger program in the UK called Feed Me Better. This program was successful in getting government money to improve school kitchens, more culinary lessons for cooks, and overall better school lunches. Oliver is very passionate about food and about teaching kids where it comes from and getting them to cook and love fresh nutritious food.

Jamie has now crossed the pond and is taking on an even bigger challenge. He has come to America’s statistically unhealthiest city and is trying to change the way the look at food, he is here to start a food revolution. It is called Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution. It first airs Friday, March 26th and is a 6 part series. Jamie isn’t alone on the show, unfortunately or fortunately, depending on the person, Ryan Seacrest is also helping with the show check out these previews:

This reminded me of Kingsoliver in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle talking about how kids do not know where their food is coming from. This totally shocks me but I admit I know what they are but I have no idea how to eat or cook them. So if you’d like to : Join the Revolution! and sign the Petition! Let’s help Kansas reach 100 members! (as of now we have 96)

Now remember, the show begins March 26th at 8pm on ABC and if you miss it I’ll be sure to update about it and remind you all of it too.

Edible Schoolyards

The idea of school gardens is nothing new. In 1995 chef Alice Walker had the same idea and applied it in Berkley, California. As she walked past the same school everyday she began to think it was abandoned, the principle of this school then asked her to come and try a garden there. Two years later most of the asphalt was gone and in it’s place there was green. It was at King Middle School in Berkeley that the first Edible Schoolyard was started.

Middle school students were not only taught about gardening but about history behind gardening and the science of cooking food. In the early years of this project there were after school cooking classes as well as cooking meals twice a month for their class.  A summer class was offered in the Edible Schoolyard. From interviews you will find that the kids in this school want to take this class, it is not a have to take it. They also find they like the food that is being good with fresh, organic produce that they themselves labored for.

The kitchen for the school was renovated so proper cooking classes could be held in it for the students. Many volunteers were vital in helping keep up the garden and teach about it for the students. I find this awesome that people would give their time to be a part of this but it does not really surprise me. They say kids born in the 2000′s are projected to live shorter lives than their parents. Many of them will get diabetes and some will get it before graduating high school. I feel like this is a cause I would be willing to give my time to and I am sure many parents and community member feel the same way.

I am hoping for the same reaction in the community I want to start this program in. My oldest niece will be a senior in high school there next year along with her 2 brothers (ages 14 and 9) and sister (age 12) hopefully they will be as excited about the project as I am. The community I am looking at is  Bern, Kansas, a small community in northeast Kansas. It is a very small school who are facing budget cuts and I feel a program like this could not only get you grant money but could also save you food money in the long run. I am sure there will be some resistance and it will not be a year round experiment because unfortunately we cannot grow year round like California. But there are good people in the community that will hopefully help me carry out this vision.  I guess we will see.

Back to Basics

Growing up I knew where my food came from. I was born and raised in northeast Kansas right by the Nebraska line on a 160 acre farm. I can remember a big garden and my mom and older sisters canning beans, corn, peaches, cherries, tomato sauces, and so much more. I knew the food came from our garden and that our meat came from our pigs and cows. But the older I became the more these ways of feeding ourselves began to die out. The grocery store became cheaper and more convenient and before I was old enough to help, our growing and canning practices stopped.  My parent’s garden now only consists of a variety of peppers and tomatoes for making and canning their own salsa. I feel as if I have missed out on the gardening generation.

Gardening always seemed like an unnecessary chore to me. It was hot outside and there were bugs, bees, and spiders in the garden and for those reasons, I liked to stay away. It was also not necessary because everything I needed or wanted I could get in the grocery store. That was my thinking up until around a year ago, now I am excited about trying a garden again and I have two reasons for it. First, I can attribute my curiosity and excitement to Barbra Kingsolver’s book we read for class, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.  And secondly, I can thank my friend Ashley for volunteering me to work on an organic farm this past summer in southern France.

Ashley and I had been planning our trip through Europe since we were freshman in college. In December of 2008 we bought our plane tickets and decided where we really wanted to go. She found a volunteer agency out of Canada online and from there she found La Ferme de Noe in Trets, France. Working on a farm for 2 1/2 weeks was not high on my to-do list when vacationing in Europe but it was important to her so I said yes. It was probably one of the best decisions I’ve made.

On June 10th we arrived in the small town of Trets in Provence in the south of France. We began working the next day, mostly pulling weeds, hoeing weeds, mulching plants, and pulling more weeds. Ashley and I worked along side two other volunteers from Toronto, Canada named Esther and Kitty. We all shared a room and got along well. My biggest problem was that I know very very little French. I can say hello, goodbye, thank you, and finished. But for the most part that was not a big issue, thanks to the wonderfully owners of the farm, Lisa and Anita. If you can speak French, or even if you don’t, feel free to check out the farm’s website here: La Ferme de Noe.

By volunteering for 17 days I was bitten by the gardening bug and it really got me interested in organic foods and gardening.  That alone was part of my reason for enrolling in this class. So my experience in France and reading Kingsolver helped me in creating an idea for my project. But before I get to that I thought I would share a few pictures from my days at la ferme:

Mt. Sainte-Victoire in the backgroud, half weeding onions in the foreground

tomato plants galore- freshly pruned and mulched

corn patch minus many weeds

half weeded beet patch

kittens, kittens, and more kittens

chickens and geese

the farm house

the gorgeous view of the mountain

For my project I want to try and design and educational program that can be implemented into schools. This program would cover the whole age range of children in schools, from preschool to 12th grade. Like Kingsolver explained in her book, some kids do not know where food comes from. This program would teach them in two ways, first they would have to research about fruits, vegetables, and grains they are interested in growing eating then it would be hands on were they would actually be planting and harvesting these crops in a school garden. Not only would this help schools with the costs of food for school lunches (the food grown would be served at lunch) but students would have healthy school lunches and would be learning important information on how to grow their own food in the future.

Over the semester I will be researching to find out how projects like this one have worked in the past as well as talk to a school close to my hometown about working with me on this project and starting a school garden.