[Week 10: Reading Response]
In Vallianatos et al’s “Farm-to-School” article, they investigate the benefits and challenges of locally sourcing food for schools.
What impressed me most about Los Angeles’ “CSA in the Classroom” program is its practicality and effectiveness. Essentially, the program operates within an organized, existing framework (the L.A. school system) and fulfills an ongoing need (food) with a better, healthier alternative. Not only does this new supply for an existing demand benefit the students at the schools in terms of health, nutrition, and education, but it also provides local growers with a reliable source of revenue.
I also noticed that, unlike many other descriptions of projects that explicitly or implicitly advocate one program or approach as “the best” strategy, the authors of this article describe CSA in the Classroom as part of a “toolkit of strategies” (Vallianatos et al 2004, p. 415). I think this mention, though small, is important. It acknowledges that there are many methods toward achieving a more ideal food system.
I was also excited to learn that Kentucky “publishes a list of the growing seasons of thirteen different fruits and twenty-three different vegetables available for the more than fifteen districtwide farm-to-school programs in that state” (p. 416). Like Tallahassee, Louisville (which I mention in almost every blog post) has growing momentum around food issues. Though the article primarily discussed the “farm to school” movement, I’m also interested in “school to farm” initiatives. Projects like Louisville’s Food Literacy Project are examples of urban spaces that provide farm-based classroom experiences, teaching education curriculum requirements (math, science, history, etc.) in the context of agriculture. In the case of the Food Literacy Project, the farm also supplies fresh food to local restaurants and neighborhood organizations, and offers paid farm apprenticeships for high schoolers during the summer months.
The school-to-farm initiatives that you mentioned seem like a great idea, I have never even heard of these programs. Educating children in an agricultural context will be very beneficial for the future of our food systems. The more that people know about the reality of our food system, the more we will be able to improve on that system.
ReplyDeleteI think it is pretty cool as well that there is one standard method food systems because different areas would more than likely require a different strategy. Food and transportation planning remind me of one another as there are indeed different modes in bring food to people. Like transportation, the bigger the city, the more transit modes will be required; moreover, with the amount of food available, there needs to be more methods available in regards to CSA's in the classrooms.
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