Topic outline

  • YOUTH GARDEN

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    Youth garden

    Introduction

    A garden can be an outdoor classroom for most of the themes on this website. Themes are perfect for creating a sense of the seasons and a garden, as an outdoor classroom, can provide a living context for learning about the world we live in. A green environment offers a variety of systems for learning “the language of nature”: ecology, interdependence, diversity, cycles, boundaries, energy, resources, succession and sustainability. A garden brings the natural world (literally) to the fingertips of students.

    1. In preparation, students choose the ingredients for a spaghetti meal. In doing so, let them choose between:
      • Organic versus conventionally produced vegetables
      • Locally grown or imported products
      • More expensive local businesses versus cheaper chains
      • Convenience versus quality
    2. They then discuss the true costs (economic, health and environmental) of their choices, as well as the many changes within food production over the past century and the impact of supporting or not supporting the local economy.
    3. Students gather background information on themed gardens, such as:
      • Historic gardens bring history to life. Choose an area and time and research what gardens were grown at that time.
      • Butterfly gardens contain native plants that are attractive to butterflies. Research what butterflies live in your area and what plants they depend on.
      • Ecosystem gardens help explore what an area looked like before humans “took over. Students can research the history of the local landscape and then recreate it based on what the area used to look like. Consider a heather garden, woodland garden or meadow garden.
      • Heritage gardens teach the importance of conserving biodiversity. Try collecting and/or growing “forgotten vegetables” and both wild and cultivated varieties.
      • Food gardens make students aware about where their food comes from. They learn about making food choices for a healthy diet and eating seasonal foods grown locally.
    4. Students work in groups to make a plan for a bed in the garden and then go about making it. Depending on the space available, divide the group into subgroups, which plan an individual bed for an entire season, sowing, planting, tending, watering, weeding and possibly harvesting.
    5. Students will keep a garden journal during construction with observations, data, work, analysis of his or her experiences, reports and/or drawings.

    Dream big, but start with an achievable plan. Consider developing a long-term plan, adding a few components each season.

    A living laboratory, in the form of a planter, outdoor or indoor garden, provides a rich context for increasing understanding of science, nutrition, social dynamics, economics, spirituality, leadership and management, among others.

    Students will learn the basic principles of food production and distribution. They can use the garden to learn social skills and systems thinking.

    Flipchart and outdoor space for growing food crops and flowers. Seed, manure, compost, mulch material, water and garden tools.

    The essential components of a garden learning system:

    • Outdoor Meeting Room
    • Beds or planting beds for each plant group
    • General growth area
    • Special project area for experiments
    • Compost heap
    • Tool shed or storage area
    • Sink
    • Greenhouse or hothouse


    Review at regular intervals with the whole group. How do students feel about being able to grow their own food? How does this fit into society? How can this be used in the rest of the world? What was the most important thing that happened in this activity? What issues are they still missing?

  • FOOD ACTIVISM AND FOOD LAW

    Food activism and food law

    Introduction

    The average meal travels 1,500 km from the farm to the supermarket. The Food Justice Movement seeks to ensure that the benefits and risks of where and how food is grown, produced, transported, distributed, obtained and eaten are more fairly shared. By reducing the injustices in the global food system, this movement also contributes positively to issues of the environment, land use, health, immigration, labor rights, economic and community development, cultural integrity, and social justice and fairness.

    Class Talk

    Ask one of the students to be the note taker for this activity. The note taker writes down students’ responses to the question, “What can people do to be better informed about what’s in their food?

    Engage the class in a conversation about the following questions:

    • Take a stalk of broccoli (or other vegetable) and a bag of chips and note the price of both. Show students both products and ask which costs the most, has the most ingredients, and is the most processed? How can that be? Make a connection with the concept of grants.
    • People get the impression that food is either cheap or healthy. Is that correct or is this a false dichotomy?
    • Students create a daily menu for four that costs as little as possible, but contains plenty of whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Subgroups explore what such a menu costs if you buy all the ingredients from a particular place, such as supermarket, farmer’s market, discount point, wholesaler, etc.
    • Research seed banks or other organizations that save seeds. For each organization, discover the goals of their seed saving efforts, who they work with, and how they save seeds. Students create a seed bank at school.
    • Where do most students get their food? What is growing in the neighborhood?
    • Are there community gardens and farmers markets near school? How did they get started?
    • What are CSAs? Is there CSAs in the region? How long has it been there?


    Mini Hunger Banquet

    At lunch, organize a mini hunger banquet. Hand out lottery tickets. Most of the group gets rice only, a few rice and nuts, and one lucky person gets a fancy sandwich and strawberries. This symbolizes the wealth distribution around the world: rice eaters have low incomes, rice and nut eaters have middle incomes, and the sandwicheter has a high income. Students can share their experiences and their knowledge of global food issues during the handout. Have them also tell about their own history around food and that of their families. Who knows, some may have known hunger.

    Raise awareness around the major food issues and hunger in the world.


    Devise fairer and more equitable ways in which food is grown, distributed and consumed.


    Flip over and markers.

    Food for the Mini Hunger Banquet

    What foods do you want to eat at school? How do we organize that? And why do we choose to do this? What do you want the auditorium (dining hall) to look like, who will provide the food, who will do the preparation and dispensing at school? What is the link between what we eat and what we can grow here? What other services – besides producing food – does a food garden offer?