THE EDIBLE SCHOOLYARD (ESY)

In September 2009, the Larchmont Schools launched their Edible Schoolyard (ESY) program as an affiliate of the Chez Panisse Foundation, becoming one of only a handful of nationwide schools to have been handpicked by Alice Waters to help revolutionize the way children think about food, farming, community, and the environment.

Waters is a chef and activist who considers food a vehicle for social change. She believes that if Americans would choose seasonal, organic food grown sustainably, and eat together at a common table, we could, as a nation, begin to restore family values, rebuild our communities and take better care of our environment.

She believes the place to begin this change is with children, in public schools.

The Edible Schoolyard program is a work in progress. No two schools interpret the philosophy in exactly the same way. We are part of a massive and exciting experiment that is being studied and watched across the country.

ESY at LCW

Eco-literacy is a core philosophy of our charter at Larchmont Charter School - West Hollywood. The Edible Schoolyard program promotes the tenets of eco-literacy by teaching children to garden, and illustrating for them actual biological systems and the interconnectedness of our natural world. Children help to prepare, serve, and eat local seasonal food. In the process, they awaken their senses, learn about nutrition, help to build a community, and begin to take personal responsibility for the Earth.

The lessons of the Edible Schoolyard are woven through every aspect of the curriculum of LCW. First, ESY creates a rich environmental and biological science program at the elementary level. Second, it allows for an integrated curriculum across many academic areas, including social studies and math. Third, ESY supports LCW’s constructivist project-based curriculum through hands-on activities in the garden and kitchen. Finally, ESY provides a delicious and nutritious hot lunch program for all of our students.

The School Garden

Each week, students spend time in the garden with our gardening teacher, Brenna Lyons. There, they learn about science and biology, as well as practical skills such as how to compost, collect soil samples, and grow and care for plants.

The School Lunch Program

The transformation of our hot lunch program is the centerpiece of the Edible Schoolyard program at LCW. The ultimate goal is to wean children from their three basic food groups—fat, sugar, and salt—and to teach them to eat seasonal, farm-fresh organic food. And to like it! We hope these years at LCW will become a foundation for a lifetime of healthy eating, sustainable living, and building community wherever our children go.

Hot lunch at LCW costs $5 a day and is comprehensive - all children take part. The lunches are made using seasonal, organic produce from the school garden and local farm. Meals are prepared by the Farmer’s Kitchen, a nonprofit community development corporation, dedicated to providing local food sources and food security, nutritional education, and micro enterprise incubation to the Hollywood community.

Each day, the children sit down at community tables, often decorated with fresh flowers, sing a song of thanks to the Earth, and eat together. They do not eat until everyone is seated. When all the children at the table have finished, they clear their dishes. All of this is accomplished with the help of a group of trained parent volunteers. Vegetarian and vegan meals are provided upon request.

Children also have weekly cooking classes with kitchen classroom instructor Marguerita Mees, who is also the hot lunch coordinator. The classes focus on nutrition, culture, science, and awakening the senses.

“I like that the children are served fresh fruits and vegetables for lunch. I like that they learn how to grow vegetables in the garden, and that they learn about the connections between growing food in the garden and eating it for lunch.” 

--Daniela, mother of a first grader 

"One thing I really like about our school is the hot lunch program. My kids are eating foods they never ate before. While they don't always stick with the new foods, they are trying new things, which has always been a struggle for us. I think the family style setting at lunch with their classmates really promotes this concept.”

--Josh, father a third grader and a first grader

"Lunch is a learning experience. The kids sit together with teachers and parents and eat well-prepared and tasty food. The groundwork for their adult eating habits is being laid!"

--Michael, father of a second grader

“It is not an exaggeration to say the Edible Schoolyard has changed my family. We ate well, but I had a phobia of gardens. With my older son at my side, giving me advice and encouragement he learned at school, we planted our first garden this year.  As for hot lunch, the delicious, fresh fruit and vegetables my sons eat during lunch at school have given them a joy and curiosity about food -- and life.  I am so grateful to be part of this program.”

--Hilary, mother of a third grader and a first grader

“I wish every parent could see the joy I have seen on my child’s face when he has told me about trying five different colors of heirloom tomatoes, eating all the wild raspberries he wanted or scooping out kombucha squash and planting pumpkin seeds. I wish every parent could hear the song my son learned at school and sings before dinner to thank the earth for all it does for him.  I wish every parent could see a school full of children who get to have a hot lunch of healthy food….and the difference it makes in their day….and the choices they will make in the future. I am deeply grateful every single day for the Edible Schoolyard, how it is integrated into the curriculum, and the hot lunch program. My son says it like this…. “Mom, how happy are you that I’m not eating gummy bears!” 

--Mary, mother of a first grader

Alice Waters Stops to Smell the Roses

by Marya Francis

from The Leaflette, Winter 2010

She is a petite woman who speaks just above a whisper. But when Alice Waters talks about her Edible Schoolyard program, she transports you to another world—a world where everyone has the right to eat healthy, beautiful meals prepared from preservative-free ingredients that you might have even grown yourself.

While many schools across the country are beginning to grow gardens and teaching eco-literacy, the Larchmont schools are fortunate to have the words of this visionary encouraging us to reach for what some might feel impossible when it comes to nourishing our children and teaching them how to care for our planet in the 21st century.

On November 9, the Larchmont Schools hosted a luncheon to announce the affiliation of the Larchmont Charter Schools with the Edible Schoolyard.  Guests included Alice Waters; Marsha Guerrero, the director of the Edible Schoolyard; several Chez Panisse Foundation Board members; Eric Garcetti, the Los Angeles City Council President, and many members of the press including the Los Angeles Times, Fox TV, and ABC News.

Before the luncheon, the group visited the LCW Rosewood campus to tour the edible garden our students and gardening teacher have created. In addition, the group watched our hot lunch program in action and visited our classrooms. As they walked by, the visitors couldn’t help but notice the drawings left on the white boards from a recent cooking class in which the children wrote about their food memories. First grader Jack Meyer artistically rendered Chicken Tenola on a monkey plate and wrote that “it shouldn’t have too much ginger” to the amusement of our guests.

Next, the group moved to the LCS Hollygrove campus. In the garden under the coral tree, picnic tables were set up and lunch was served. Marguerita Mees, LCW’s kitchen teacher and hot lunch coordinator, managed the chefs from the Farmer’s Kitchen and served the same lunch our children ate that day—quesadillas with salsa, the last of the season’s plums and peaches, and a wonderful salad and cookies donated to us by The Larchmont Larder. Alice was very impressed that our children are eating so well!

Brian Johnson, our Executive Director, kicked off several speeches with a warm welcome and tales of his visit to the ESY program at the New Orleans affiliate soon after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city. He witnessed the hope and pride the ESY program there has given to the recovering community. Then, two children from LCS spoke about their experiences in the garden and presented Alice with a beautiful framed poem. Our principal, Kristin Droege, eloquently spoke on how she is incorporating the ideas of ESY into our daily curriculum, and Alejandra Domenzain, one of our second grade teachers, spoke about the personal experiences she draws from to enhance the ESY experience in her classroom. At the end, Eric Garcetti presented Alice and the Larchmont Schools with achievement awards from the City of Los Angeles.

Alice spoke throughout the afternoon with journalists and many of our community members. She illustrated one of her main points by drawing a picture of children eating apples grown on a farm and she insisted that children should never eat off of Styrofoam trays covered in plastic wrap, EVER!!! Her ideals have been criticized for being possible only for the affluent. But in just a short time at LCW we’ve already shown that under the ESY guidance and with a dedicated community of educators and families, we can successfully incorporate these ideals within a mixed socio-economic population.

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