From the Global Classroom
A serious concern with ever increasing global populations food supply to feed close to 8 billion people. An article in State of the World 2000 (Nourishing the Underfed and Overfed, Gary Gardener and Brian Halwell) notes that one in five American children is classed as overweight or obese. In the Globe and Mail (Locavore High, Aug. 30) Adriana Barton describes a program of food production in Mountview Elementary School of Williams Lake B.C. Starting off slowly in a school of 200 students the school includes production of vegetable lunches two days a week. They found that most students preferred “asparagus, broccoli or snap peas (with) dishes such as bison-vegetable chili” to bag lunches from home.
This has grown from a salad bar in one B.C. school into the province’s Farm to School network in two dozen schools. Food is supplied by independent butchers and near by farms bringing the classroom into closer association with the local economy. The program has been accepted in Victoria, Nanaimo and the interior with others planned for schools in Richmond and Vancouver. Students are becoming more aware of a world wide issue and are learning to do something about it. Key elements have been the response of the communities and the participation of students.
An article in “State of the World” 2000 was based on global malnutrition. It equated the plight of folk who go hungry particularly in Third World countries with the related problem of obesity, i.e. overeating or improper eating, on this side of the world. There has been considerable publicity about this ‘disease’ in North America. British Columbia is aiming at healthier eating habits and community prosperity. A controversial subject in society pertains to industries seeking to profit through contracts with school boards allowing companies to have a monopoly providing ‘junk foods’ for children in our schools. This serious situation must be dealt with by boards of education. One way is the introduction of a new subject helping students cope with this issue during their lifespan through study in the education system.
Student participation in school development and operation is of considerable interest to parents and pupils alike, as well as for the public in general. Some years ago I was part of a cooperative effort between a MacDonalds franchise and an NGO in the province of Negros, Philippines. The fast food center arranged to save used coffee cups which community volunteers collected regularly, washed and filled with soil. Each cup was then seeded and put into nursery beds. The effort was aimed at re-establishing forest cover in rapidly receding mountain forests, an ecosystem needed as a reservoir providing potable water for residents of the provincial capital Bacolod City. Initiation of seedlings has the potential of involving school children in dealing with a serious environmental issue. It was inspiring to visit one of the bush nurseries where several thousand seedlings were growing in paper cups.
There is a strong urban agriculture movement in North America. One State of the World article noted that 44% of residents in Vancouver, a city having almost year round growing conditions, were involved with home gardens such as in back yards, rooftops or plots on publicly owned lands. A colleague is involved in school yard regreening in Toronto. What a glorious opportunity for school children to learn to deal with one of the world’s most pressing problems not only in the classroom but by establishing and tending a vegetable garden on school property.
The Farm to School network in British Columbia network has added a valuable subject to the provincial curriculum. It helps students to learn about a basic subject in society while being directly involved with providing healthy food and improving the school habitat
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