Food Revolution!

Tuesday night I got the chance to view the premiere of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. I'm not sure what I expected, but with the energy Jamie has brought to his past shows, I thought it was worth watching. I was intrigued by the title and I just wanted to let the story unfold.


I focused intently on how Jamie was going to handle his campaign on getting school children to eat real non-processed food and LIKE it! When trying to work with some adults in town, it was surprising to see how much resistance he would meet. Changing habits is hard I know, especially when time and money are involved. It is evident though that we have created a culture of chicken nugget and pizza eaters. They kids just weren't willing to try anything different and the school lunch staff complained profusely about how it wasn't going to work.

At the end of the second episode, thankfully Jamie had started to see change. The 1st graders who previously couldn't tell the difference between a tomato and a potato, had worked hard along with their teacher to learn it. Not only that, but stickers were given to kids in the lunch room who were willing to try some of the new food Jamie had prepared from scratch. There were even some that really liked the new foods. So now I am anxious to continue to follow this series to the end. Jamie will be spending 3-4 months in this community to encourage them to change a lifestyle that is killing them.

As you know, I am particularly interested in getting children interested in gardening. Gardening leads to good eating habits. It's a basic survival skill that happens to provide great exercise and amazing food. We live in a whole different generation where children think that their food only comes from the grocery store and that just is not acceptable in these uncertain times. People should be able to take care of themselves if needed. Our habits remind me a bit of the movie  "Wall-E" when you see obese people being transported everywhere in chairs and eating meals out of a cup like a milkshake. We've gotten to a point where that is not too far off the truth.


This just gives me more encouragement to push school gardens because its so desperately needed in  the most unhealthy obese countries in the world.

You can access the same data that Jamie Oliver used from USDA on population health by states and counties. Here's the link: USDA Food Environment Atlas

Don't forget to sign Jamie's food petition

The Need For School Gardens Is Now

School gardens are more important now than they have ever been. We're all hearing the statistics about what's happening to our health... not to mention the environment. Thankfully school gardens are on the rise in the United States. More and more school districts are discovering the benefits of adding a teaching garden to their school yard. With childhood obesity increasing and the need for ways to boost academics, gardening seems to be quite the perfect match. Add to that learning some basic life skills, environmental stewardship, and even community involvement to name a few.

You've heard the term, "If they grow it, they will eat it?" It's true! Students will start out saying, “I don't eat broccoli." and they'll end up begging for more! I know this first hand. Something just changes in child when they have been the ones who have planted, cared for and finally harvest their food. You can just feel the sense of pride in students as they are take bits of this and that home to their families to try. Not only that, but discussions start about what vegetables they want to try to grow at home with their families. The door just seems to open to a whole new attitude toward good food. The whole process from start to finish encourages healthy living.

Academic achievement is listed as the number one reason schools choose to start a garden. With TAKS testing, every bit of help for students to achieve higher test scores is imperative to Texas schools. Thankfully, tests show that third, fourth, and fifth grade students that participated in school gardening activities scored significantly higher on science achievement tests compared to students that did not experience any garden-based learning activities. (Klemmer, C.D., Waliczek, T.M. & Zajicek, J.M. (2005). Growing Minds: The Effect of a School Gardening Program on the Science Achievement of Elementary Students. HortTechnology. 15(3): 448-452.) Many other subjects are covered in and through the gardening process, making the time spent even more valuable. Having “hands-on” time using a skill learned in a subject helps a student to truly understand it better and make it their own.

The world we live in today and in the future is going to have some tough challenges. News about peak oil, global warming and even here with our own droughts and water restrictions, all lead us to live more responsibly. Equipping children to be able to deal with these is necessary. Good gardening skills are becoming more important than ever.

It’s hard to find anything else that can even compare to these advantages. Wouldn’t it also be a great way to show our community about what special things are going on at your school? For as much hard work that goes on inside of the classrooms, having a garden helps to show off a school’s dedication to the care of its students. And if President Obama is putting in a vegetable garden at the White House, what a great time it is to start yours!

For more ideas and inspiration visit: KidsGardening.com

Gardening with Kids

If you dream about teaching gardening to groups of children this is a wonderful program. Junior Master Gardener is an international youth gardening program of the University Extension network.

From their website:

JMG Mission: To grow good kids by igniting a passion for learning, success and service through a unique gardening education.


Service Learning: Students use what they have learned to be of service to others. Examples of service projects initiated by JMG groups include: growing produce for donation to food banks, community beautification projects, and class businesses generating funds for local charities.

Student Recognition: Youths completing requirements in a given chapter or for the overall program earn certification awarded by National JMG Program Office and JMG state program partners.

National Network: Twenty eight Universities nationally implement the program at the state level. Texas A&M University serves as the headquarters for the National JMG Program Office.

Program Partnerships

* The Texas AgriLife Extension Service, The Texas A&M University System
* AmeriCorps Hildago Group
* National Wildlife Federation
* Learn & Serve America
* Schools to Careers
* Master Gardener Associations
* Children's Better Health Institute

I have been working with a group at a local elementary school as an after school program for 5th graders. The kids are great. We've planted veggies, flowers and studied seed anatomy. They have also assembled a plant chair that was raffled off as a fund raiser for the Red Cross which went to help with those devastated by Hurricane Ike.

What amazes me about the program is that it is well-rounded, incorporating math science, reading and health. After having grown many of the different fruits and vegetables, they are willing to try them because they had grown them.

I truly believe that our generation has lost many of the basic skills to provide for themselves. This is vital for survival in all types of economic change the future may bring. Eating healthier, frugally and providing a tool to use to help others is priceless.



I would encourage anyone who works with youth groups or wants to see this in their school to check this program out.