At the end of its two-week experience, the high school journalism teachers attending the ASNE Institute at UC Berkeley will enjoy a tasty luncheon at Chez Panisse. But we will be savoring more than the cuisine.

Ten years ago, Chez Panisse restaurant owner Alice Waters and Martin Luther King Middle School Principal Neil Smith brainstormed a revolutionary idea — give kids lessons in ecological gardening, healthy food preparation, and cultural tolerance via an urban garden and kitchen.

Thanks to their effort, the help of many community members, enthusiastic teachers, and a $650,000 grant from the Center for Ecoliteracy, The Edible Schoolyard was born.



According to Chelsea Chapman, liaison between The Edible Schoolyard and Martin Luther King Middle School, 12 out of 16 Berkeley Unified School District schools have gardens, and there is an estimated 3000 school gardens scattered across the United States.

“Our program places food at the center and has students helping each other,” said Alice Waters at the inception of The Edible Schoolyard. “These students learn mutual respect from sharing meals, they learn self-respect from learning how to prepare meals and they learn respect for the planet from learning how to grow food in an ecologically sound way.”



Waters and Smith knew they could reach their goal by teaching ecologically sound gardening practices in an urban setting. They also knew the plan required teacher support.



Teachers quickly learned to depend upon The Edible Schoolyard as a valuable teaching tool. In the kitchen, humanities classes prepare meals, using cooking methods and equipment peculiar to the culture being studied. Sixth grade science students get a lesson on seeds and seed saving in the late winter. In the fall, they do a lesson that satisfies the State of California Science Learning Standards on soil composition.



The Edible Schoolyard provides an academic benefit. According to a 2003 Center for Ecoliteracy report: Not only did the students at King see an overall increase in grade-point average, but their grades went up in science and math.



Parents of students and members of The Edible Schoolyard foundation participate in workdays and an annual plant sale, where seedlings, raised in the garden’s adjacent nursery, are sold to the public. Local high school students work in the garden to earn required community service hours.