Are Food Gardens A Sustainable Part of Our Children's Education?

Schoolyard gardens seem to some to be a paragon of universal and sustainable good. They provide food, knowledge of the life cycles and interactions of plants, animals and soil, and an opportunity for children who have a more physical way of learning to get comfortable in a learning environment that is very unlike the seats of a classroom.

However, schoolyard gardens also have their detractors. A recent article by Caitlin Flanagan in The Atlantic lambastes the idea of the school garden. Flanagan points out that a farm laborer who moves to another country to better their child's education may be less than thrilled to learn that their child is again laboring in the fields, this time in the guise of a school garden. She is concerned that instead of learning academic subjects and excelling on standardized tests, children are being forced to work in school gardens. I disagree with her assessment. Here's why.

The difference is choice. If you are provided with an education that leads only to farm labor and you have a deep desire to be a doctor, then this is maddening. However, our school gardens are part of a variety of activities that schoolchildren are involved in. Children learn how to play instruments, read and write, do math, and yes, garden. Different activities appeal to different children, and some may find meaning in mathematics while others find appeal in growing vegetables.

The difference is also the honor conferred on farmers by different cultures. All cultures value food, of course. It's what we need to live. In a socially-stratified community where those with money look down on those who must farm to eat, declining to be a farmer and seeking more education is a sensible strategy.

However, in places where many urban-dwellers are now several generations removed from farm life, gardening has developed a new mystique. Food, growing food, and local and sustainable eating are emerging as areas of interest, particularly amongst those who may have previously look down in disdain at farmers. The idea of farming and food is being gentrified. Once an activity that people aspired to leave behind, people are discovering that practical skills are valuable and necessary to everyday life if we are to develop sustainable homes and cities. We're revaluing lost knowledge, and the schoolyard garden is part of that movement.

In school, I excelled. I did exceptionally well on the aforementioned standardized tests and eventually received a graduate degree. In the end, what did I really want to learn as an adult? I wanted to learn how to harvest wild plants, how to grow food, how to cook well, and how to sew and knit. While school may not be the right place to learn all of these things, practical skills should absolutely be part of a growing child's education, as they are a part of adult life.

I am an example of that trend. My grandparents grew up poor on a Canadian farm and had little education. When I talk with them about my work to reintegrate practical skills into the lives of those who have forgotten how to garden, they understand the value that their skills have. They say it is sad that people have forgotten how to lead lives that incorporate gardening, making food from scratch, and creating our own clothing. It's an honor to be able to choose this path again.