Can cooking and gardening at school inspire better nutrition? Ask these kids [View all]

Farm to school events are happening all over the country this month aimed at bringing fresh food to students' plates.

And, after a decline in nutrition education in U.S. schools in recent decades, there's new momentum, to weave food and cooking into the curriculum again.

Remember the hands-on cooking in home economics class, which was a staple in U.S. schools for decades?

"I'd love to see it brought back and have the science around healthy eating integrated," says Stacy Dean, deputy under secretary for food, nutrition and consumer services at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Dean told me she was inspired by a visit to Watkins Elementary, in Washington, D.C., where this idea is germinating. Students grow vegetables in their school garden. They also roll up their sleeves in the school's kitchen to participate in a FRESHFARM FoodPrints class, which integrates cooking and nutrition education. On the day we visited, 5th graders sauteed onions and collard greens.

"Who's next," asks instructional coach Regina Green, as kids toss veggies into the sizzling pan and the aroma of fresh ginger and caramelizing onions fills the air. "We grew these in our garden," Jessie Gibson, one of the students, says proudly. Then he measures and pours dry ingredients for a cracker recipe into a bowl.

"I'm whisking," Gibson says as they review a lesson on whole grains. "I've learned whole wheat has more nutrition, because it has the germ and the outer layer," of the wheat kernel he says, as he rolls out the dough with a rolling pin.

Teaching nutrition without a kitchen is a bit like swimming lessons without a pool, so this elementary school is fortunate to have a dedicated cooking classroom. But it also takes a lot of time, staff and resources.

"We really work hard to make it experiential which requires a lot of prep and a lot of clean up," says Jenn Mampara, director of education at FRESHFARM.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/10/09/1204077086/can-cooking-and-gardening-at-school-inspire-better-nutrition-ask-these-kids

Big Ag HATES this idea! But even when I worked in daycare and we had a little garden, the kids were eager to eat what they helped grow.