Edible Gardens in Sacramento Schools
Alice Waters, a renown celebrity chef, made a visit to Sacramento’s Schools in California to push the schools to go green and serve locally grown food in their schools. This would stimulate Sacramento’s economy by having the schools district’s purchase food and supplies from Sacramento’s farmers markets. They are also in the talks of implementing edible gardens into each school.
The nations elementary schools are known to serve the lowest health food out of all schools. High schools have a better selection of food, but still a huge majority of what schools are offering is junk food. Schools are cheap! They care more about the sports teams, look of the school and events then the way the students are eating. How does this help a student succeed in class and prepare for their life? This only starts bad eating habits at a young age and is the recipe for health issues later in life.
By serving locally grown food and organic food in the school system not only will it give the local economy a boost but it will help students. Students need good nutrition to do well in school. How are they going to be able to focus if they are loaded up on sugar or ate something with so much fat that they are lethargic? A student’s brain needs “brain food” something healthy that will keep them going all day and keep them feeling good.
Edible Gardens are a new system that many schools are starting to have. They are creating programs designed to teach kids how to grow different foods and then using some of the information they gather in their science classes. They are growing food at schools and using it in the cafeteria for the kids to eat. Fresh fruit and vegetables are giving kids a better taste palate and teaching them better eating habits. If all schools started to have “Edible Gardens” and buying locally produced organic foods, the children will gain important health benefits as well as create life long healthy eating habits.
This slow food instead of fast food movement is becoming very important. Today’s lifestyle demands things fast; fast information, fast transportation and fast food. People are now catching on to the fact that fast food isn’t “good food.” So many health problems are a result of our eating habits. To be able to start kids out with the knowledge of these health problems and the resources to be able to change them, they will have a healthy life and succeed in school because of their energy and motivation coming from the healthy lifestyle they are living.
If all schools were to buy local foods, grow edible gardens, and serve healthy food in the cafeterias the students will prosper. The schools will see an improvement in test scores, less tardiness, less absences and more motivation from the students. Health is so important that it affects every aspect of your life. By teaching our children and students how to live healthy, we are giving them the best chance at having a successful educational experience and life.
Patricia Hawke is a staff writer for Schools K-12, providing free, in-depth reports on all U.S. public and private K-12 schools. For more information please visit Sacramento School Ratings and Sacramento School Rankings
Author Bio: Patricia Hawke is a staff writer for Schools K-12, providing free, in-depth reports on all U.S. public and private K-12 schools. For more information please visit Sacramento School Ratings and Sacramento School Rankings
Category: Education
Keywords: sacramento schools, sacramento school ratings, sacramento school rankings