Working Systemically Food Systems Project
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Working Systemically
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Working Systemically
© Zenobia Barlow
Food Systems Project
The Food Systems Project is working to improve the health of children and families in the •
Berkeley Unified School District by:
• supporting a garden classroom in every school in the district,
•' developing a district-wide food systems-based curriculum,
• improving food access and nutritional health in the BUSD child nutrition service,
• linking family farms to schools,
• tackling food related public policy issues, •
• supplying leadership and support for the Berkeley Food Policy Council.
The Food Systems Project has been designated as a Pilot Project of the USDA “Farm to School
Initiative,” which supports direct relationships between farms and schools.
■ A Project of the Center for Ecoliteracy
Transforming the School Nutrition Service
The Food Systems Project is linking the Berkeley Unified School •
District to family farms practicing sustainable agriculture on the urban
fringe. The inclusion of fresh, locally grown produce raises the quality
of the food served in the school nutrition program. For local farmers,
the institutional buying power of the school district has the potential
to sustain farming as a way of life in the region.
As a pilot projectof the USDA, the Food Systems
Project, (d project of the
Centerfor Ecoliteracy),
“Farm to School Initiative,”
provides a classic “win-win”
‘situation for community residents
because projects like this help
fanners stay in business
and protect open space.
The schools benefit because they
obtain nutritious food
The Berkeley Child Nutrition Service works with 15‘ schools, from .
elementary to high school. The district serves approximately 9400 .
children and touches the lives of thousands of families. When the
■BUSD purchases an apple a day for its students from local sustainable
agriculture, local farmers acquire a nearby dependable market
without incurring marketing or advertising costs. A single school
district can rescue a local apple industry from extinction.
The project has networked with parents and educators to redesign
the school lunch menu. Corporate advertising for video games' and •
television has been removed and replaced with a monthly letter
from the district superintendent on topics such as the importance of
sound nutrition to growing children and the value of eating a good
breakfast before school:
,
•
The new menu offers a fresh fruit or vegetable choice with lunch .and.
a vegetarian entree .Choice daily. It has included the schedule for
farmer’s markets in the neighborhood and a’‘Parent’s'Corner"
question and answer column responding to . inquiries about-the meal .
program and nutrition.
The goal is to ensure that meals served at school are .part of the
overall education of students, with lessons on food production,
nutrition, preparation, waste reduction and composting.
■•
at affordable prices', and
students benefit because they arc
servedfruits and vegetables that are
so fresh they are more likely
to cat and enjoy them.
Joel Berg
© T yler
Coordinator of Community Food
Security ’
U.S. Department of Agriculture
BERKELEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT
FOOD POLICY
Responsibilities
The Board of Education recognizes the important'connection between a healthy diet and a
student's ability to learn'effectively and achieve high standards in school. The Board also
recognizes the school’s role, as part of the larger community, to promote family health,
sustainable agriculture and environmental restoration..
The Board of Education recognizes that the sharing of food is a fundamental experience
’
for all peoples; a primary way to nurture and celebrate our cultural diversity; and an excel
lent bridge for building friendships, and inter-generational bonds.
Mission
The. educational mission is to improve the health of the entire community by teaching .
students and families ways to establish and maintain lifedong healthy eating habits.The
■ ■'
mission shall be accomplished -through nutrition education, garden experiences, the food .
served in schools, and core academic content in-the. classroom.
Goals
I.
Ensure that no student in Berkeley is hungry.
2.
Ensure that a healthy and nutritious breakfast, lunch and after school snack is available to every student at every .
school so that students are prepared to learn' to their fullest potential.
3.
Eliminate the reduced-price category for school lunch, breakfast and snacks, so that all low-income children have
healthy food available at no cost.
4.
Ensure that all qualified children become eligible for free meals by frequently checking with Alameda County
Social Services.
5.
.
Ensure maximum.participation in the school meal program by developing a coordinated, comprehensive
outreach and promotion plan for the school meal programs.
6.
Shift from food-based menu planning to nutrient-based., planning (as set forth under USDA guidelines) to allow
for more flexible food selection.
7.
Ensure that the nutritional value of the food served significantly improves upon USDA Dietary Guidelines by
providing nutritious, fresh, tasty, locally grown food that reflects Berkeley’s cultural diversity.
8.
Ensure that the food served shall be organic to the maximum extent possible, as defined by the California
Certified Organic Farmers.
9. Eliminate potential harmful food additives and processes, such as bovine growth hormones, irradiation, and
genetically modified foods.
10. Serve meals in a pleasant environment with sufficient time for eating, while .fostering good manners and
respect for fellow students..
I I. Maximize the reduction of waste by recycling, reusing, composting and purchasing recycled products. Each
school site shall have a recycling program.
12. Ensure that a full service kitchen will be installed at school sites where public bond money is expended to
repair or remodel a school.
Strategies
A.
Integration into the Curriculum
I.
2.
Integrate eating expenences, gardens, and nutrition education into the curriculum for math, science,'social
studies and language arts at all grade levels.•
Establish a school garden in every school. Give-students the opportunity to plant, harvest, prepare, cook'and
eat food they have grown.
3.
B.
•
■
r
r
Establish relationships with local farms. Encourage farmers and farm workers to come to the school classroom and arrange for students to visit farms.'
•
.
c
me buivui
Student Participation
I. Solicit student preferences in planning menus and snarls th™
r
of new foods and recipes.
snacks through annual.focus groups, surveys, and taste tests
2. Ensure that 5 students are represented on the Child Nutrition Advisory Committee.
C.
Waste. Reduction
'
Sustainable Communities
The Center for Ecoliteracy is dedicated to fostering the experience and understanding of the
natural world in educational communities. In providing support to educators, we empower them to
help children learn the. values, knowledge, and skills that are crucial to building and nurturing
ecologically sustainable communities.
In our efforts to build and nurture sustainable communities we can learn
valuable lessons from ecosystems, which themselves are sustainable
communities of plants, animals, and microorganisms. Being ecologically
literate means understanding the basic patterns and processes by which
nature sustains life’ and using these core concepts of ecology to create
sustainable human communities, in particular, learning communities.
.Applying this ecological knowledge requires systems thinking, or thinking in terms of relationships,
connectedness, and context. Ecological literacy means seeing the world as an interconnected
whole. Using systems theory, we see that all living systems share a set of common properties and
principles of organization.Thus we discover similarities between phenomena at different levels of
scale—the individual child, the classroom, the school, the district, and the surrounding human
communities and ecosystems. With its intellectual grounding in systems thinking, ecoliteracy offers a
powerful framework for a systemic approach to school reform.
Fritjof Capra
Chair; Board of Directors
Center for Ecoliteracy
Principles of Ecology
Core concepts in ecology that describe the patterns and processes by which nature sustains life.
NETWORKS
All members of an ecological community are interconnected in a vast and
intricate network of relationships,.the web of life.They derive their essential
properties and, in fact, their very existence from these relationships.
NESTED SYSTEMS
Throughout nature we find multi-leveled structures of systems nesting within
systems. Each of these forms an integrated whole within a boundary while at the
same time being a part of a larger whole.
CYCLES
The interactions among the members of an ecological community involve the
exchange of energy and resources in continual cycles.The cycles in an ecosystem
intersect with larger cycles in the bioregion and in the planetary biosphere. ■
FLOWS
All organisms are open systems, which means that they need to feed on a
continual flow of energy and resources to stay alive.The constant flow of solar
energy sustains life and drives all ecological cycles.
DEVELOPMENT
The unfolding of life, manifesting as development and learning at the individual
level and as evolution at the species level, involves an interplay of creativity and
mutual adaptation in which organisms and environment coevolve.
DYNAMIC BALANCE
All ecological cycles act as feedback loops, so that the ecological community
regulates and organizes itself, maintaining a state of dynamic balance
characterized by continual fluctuations.
About the Center for Ecoliteracy
MISSION STATEMENT
The Center for Ecoliteracy is dedicated to fostering experience and understanding of the natural world.
A public foundation, the Center for Ecoliteracy (Center) supports educational organizations and nur
tures communities in schools that teach and embody ecologically sustainable ways of life.The Center
acts as a grant-making organization, sponsors donor-advised funds, and shelters projects consistent
with its mission.
'
.
CENTER FOR ECOLITERACY NETWORK
We convene our network of grantees in an ongoing cycle of seasonal retreats and educational
experiences.The Edible Schoolyard project is one vital node in this vibrant network of schools
exploring the natural world and its enriched contexts for learning.
LEARNING IN THE REAL WORLD®
The Center acts as a publishing resource under the imprint, Learning in the Real World®. As a pub
lishing resource, the Center provides consultation, editorial, design, and production services, and
access to the Center's growing archive of photographic images of children learning in the real world.
PUBLICATIONS
The Edible Schoolyard is the second in a series of publications that illustrate diverse efforts in foster- .
ing ecological literacy through gardening, cooking, sustainable agriculture, and habitat restoration.
Getting Started: A Guide To Creating Gardens as Outdoor Classrooms. The tried and true techniques
presented here are'based on Life Lab Science Program's 20 years of experience in helping teachers
establish school gardens. Lavishly illustrated with delightful black-and-white photographs of children
engaged in the exploration of their gardens, this informative booklet, covers everything from outdoor
classroom design and site selection, to strategies for gardening with students, to creating community
support that will sustain a school garden program.The Center provided Life Lab Science Program
with design and production services and the use of images from its photographic library. Getting
Started was selected by the California Department of Education as a key resource in support of the
Department’s vision of "a garden in every school."
Ecoliteracy: Mapping the Terrain. Using a Bay Area watershed restoration- project funded by the
Center as context, this book of collected essays by Frrtjof Capra. David Orr, Jeannette Armstrong,
and others brings breadth and depth to what is meant by "fostering ecoliteracy."The essays address .
the “process of fostering ecoliteracy" from different perspectives, including systems theory systemic
school reform, and an ages-old technique perfected by indigenous people for building sustain ability
principles into community 'process. Vivid images capture the enthusiasm of the children exploring
their local watershed.
SELECTED PROJECTS
Berkeley Food Systems Project. The Edible Schoolyard has inspired, and been inspired by, the district
wide Berkeley Food Systems Project, an effort to revitalize the Berkeley Unified School Distort (BUSD)
food service, create a garden in every school, implement innovative food-related curriculum, and
increase reliance on regional sustainable agriculture. With 85% of farms facing extinction on the edges
of urban sprawl, linking schools to farms will, in author Wendell Berry's words, “solve for pattern."The
Berkeley alliance is exploring solutions that work harmoniously with the regional food system.
Learning in the Real World. This non-profit organization in Woodland, California, was established “to
create a mainstream debate regarding the use of computers and other‘educational technology' in
the classroom." Learning in. the Real World analyzes and distributes information, that encourages
rational decisions about when and where education technology is a positive tool for children and
when it detracts from their development. It also provides research grants to university investigators
in the areas of educational performance and cognitive development.
Board of Directors
Zenobia Barlow
Peter Buckley
Fritjof Capra
Gay Hoagland
David Orr
For additional information and to place orders,
please contact:
Center for Ecoliteracy .
2522 San Pablo Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94702
Fax: 5 10.845.1439
email: info@ecoliteracy.org
www.ecoliteracy.org
About the Center for Ecoliteracy
MISSION STATEMENT
The Center for Ecofrteracy is dedicated to fostering experience and understanding of the natural world.
A public foundation, the Center for Ecoliteracy (Center), supports educational organizations and nur- ’•
tures communities in schools that teach and embody ecologically sustainable ways of life.The Center
acts as a grant-making organization, sponsors donor-advised funds, and shelters projects consistent
with its mission.
CENTER FOR ECOLITERACY NETWORK
We convene our network of grantees in an ongoing cycle of seasonal retreats and educational
experiences.The Edible Schoolyard project is one vital node in this vibrant network of schools
exploring the natural world and its enriched contexts for learning.
LEARNING IN THE REAL WORLD®
The Center acts as a publishing resource under the imprint, Learning in the Real World®. As a pub
lishing resource, the Center provides consultation, editorial, design, and production services, arid.
access to the Center's growing archive of photographic images of children learning in the real world.
PUBLICATIONS
The Edible Schoolyard is the second in a series of publications that’ illustrate diverse efforts in foster
ing ecological literacy through gardening, cooking, sustainable agriculture, and habitat restoration.
Getting Started: A Guide To Creating Gardens as Outdoor Classrooms. The tried and true techniques
presented here are based on Life Lab Science Program’s 20 years of experience in helping teachers
establish school gardens. Lavishly illustrated with delightful black-and-white photographs of children
engaged in the exploration of their gardens, this informative booklet covers everything from outdoor
classroom design and site selection, to strategies for gardening with students, to creating community
support that will sustain a school garden program.The Center provided Life Lab Science Program
with design and production services and the use of images from its photographic library. Getting
Started was selected by the California Department of Education as a key resource in support of the
Department's vision of “a garden in every school."
Ecoliteracy: Mapping the Terrain. Using a Bay Area watershed restoration project funded by the
Center as context, this book of collected essays by Fritjof Capra, David Orr Jeannette Armstrong,
and others brings breadth and depth to what is meant by "fostering ecoliteracy."The essays address
. ABOUT THE CENTER FOR ECOLITERACY
The Center for Ecoliteracy is a public foundation that operates a grantmaking program, convenes
networks of its grantees, shelters projects consistant with its mission, sponsors donor-advised funds,
and manages a communications strategy, including the .publishing imprint Learning in the Real World®.
MISSION
The Center for Ecoliteracy is dedicated to education for sustainable living by fostering a profound
understanding of the natural world grounded in direct experience.
We recognize “ecological literacy” as a central aspect of the collective wisdom that enables a
community to live sustainably, reproducing its patterns of living over time without diminishing
nature’s inherent ability to sustain life..
VISION
The Center for Ecoliteracy supports school communities .and educational organizations in creating
contexts in which children learn-the values and gain the knowledge and .skills that are essential
to creating ecologically sustainable communities. Our vision is to discover; with, educators, ways to
reconnect children to the natural world.
.
SELECTED PROJECTS
The STRAW Project
(Students and Teachers Restoring A Watershed)
The STRAW Project coordinates and sustains a network of teachers, students, specialists, and
community members planning and implementing riparian studies and restoration projects in Marin and
Sonoma counties. STRAW provides students and teachers-with scientific, educational and technical
resources that prepare them for hands-on outdoor watershed studies, including the ecological.
restoration of riparian corridors; STRAW'S goals include fostering ecological literacy, empowering
students, supporting teachers, reconnecting communities and restoring the environment.
The Food Systems Project
The Food Systems Project uses a whole systems approach to learning, linking children’s health, school .
meal programs and family farms to education for sustainable patterns of living. The core elements of
the project include: supporting instructional gardens, developing food systems-based curriculum, .
improving food access and nutritional health in .child, nutrition services, linking family farms to schools, and
tackling food related public policy issues.The Center and its Food Systems Project also convene the
Fertile Crescent Network, bringing together food systems related grantees anditheir allies from counties
in northern California.
.
;
Learning in the RealWorld®
Educational Networks
’
The Center for Ecoliteracy selects and supports whole schools committed to environmental, project- .
based learning, curriculum integration using ecological themes, a dedication to shared leadership, and
a connection to the larger community and ecosystem in which the school is embedded; Educational leaders from schools are convened in networks and supported by professional development programs.'.
PUBLICATIONS from
Learning in the Reel World®
' Getting Started: A Guide for Creating School Gardens as Outdoor Classrooms, published in collaboration
.with Life Lab. Science Program, is a -step-by-step guide for creating a healthy productive garden that '
serves as an educational environment for students..
The Edible Schoolyard guides the reader through-the challenges .of starting an innovative garden or
watershed, project within the framework of the public school, illustrating diverse efforts, in fostering
ecological literacy through.gardening, cooking, sustainable agriculture, and habitat restoration.
Ecoliteracy: Mapping the Terrain, offers a comprehensive look at'ecological literacy, using the STRAW
project, a Bay Area watershed restoration and K-12 education project, as its focus.
’
•
Each publication is illustrated with vibrant images from the Center for Ecoliteracy's Learning in the Real’
World® Image Bank.
•
• •
The Edible Schoolyard and Getting Started have been selected by the California -Department of Education
as key resources in support of the. Department's Vision of "A Garden in Every School". These two
publications are currently available free of charge through the California Department of Education
Press; for more information call (916) 445-0850. .
WEBSITE
www.ecoliteracy.org
For more-information on the Center for Ecoliteracy, funding guidelines, in-depth project descriptions
and an explanation 'of the conceptual framework of ecological literacy, please visit our website at
www.ecbliteracy.org. The website includes articles, K-12 curriculum resources, links to like-minded
organizations, and the opportunity to subscribe to an online quarterly newsletter filled with
useful .information, beautiful images and inspiring stories from our Ecoliteracy network of grantees.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Zenobia Barlow
Peter Buckley
Fritjof Capra .
Gay Hoagland
David. Orr
PROGRAM STAFF
Zenobia Barlow
Janet Brown ’
Juan Carlos Collins ■
Misa Koketsu
Sandy Neumann.
Melanie Okamoto
ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF
Michael Bragg
Susan Brown
Eric Wallenger
Nobuko Yamada.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Center for Ecoliteracy
2522 San Pablo Avenue
Berkeley, California 94702.
Phone: (510) 845-4595
Fax: (5.10) -845-1439
email: info@ecpliteracy.org •
www.ecoliteracy.org'
© Center (or EcoiKcncy/Tylw
Ecoliteracy: Practicing a Systemic Approach to Education
by Sandy Neumann
Program Officer for Education
Center for Ecoliteracy
Education in our time should aim at nothing less
than the renewal of wisdom, the rebirth of gratitude,
and the recovery of a sense of beauty
large enough to embrace esthetics and justice.
—David W. Orr
There is widespread recognition that the educational system in the.United States
needs to change.There are broad recommendations outlining what students need to
know and be able to do at various points in their academic careers. However, there is
no widespread consensus that provides a long-standing basis for coherent action in
schools to accomplish this reform.To further challenge the reform effort, each school
community has its own set of conditions that must be considered when designing a plan
for whole school change. However, one generalization that .can be made about school
communities is that they are made up of multiple interconnected systems and the more
we look at these systems, the more complex they appear.Thinking systemically to affect
school change is a new way of thinking about schools. As Ann. Lieberman and Lynn
Miller, two noted specialists in teacher development and school reform, have pointed
out,“Teachers are learning that any change, whether it focuses on the whole school or
on one grade level, never remains only one change. It is transformed into many changes
- -----------------------------------------------------------------------------© Center for Ecoliteracy
1
■
■■-------------------------------- —
Learning in the Real World-
caking place at the same time.This kind of thinking is not intuitive for people who have
been thinking in terms of my classroom and my kids for most of their professional
lives.Thinking systemically needs to be learned.” (Lieberman & Miller, 1999).
In 1992,1 was Principal of Brookside School, a suburban elementary school of 550
students and 26 full time teachers, in California’s Marin County. Trying to find a bal
ance between state mandates for higher test scores and meaningful learning experi
ences for our students, we found ourselves engaged in a systemic approach to our
school reform effort. Initially, it began with a grant from a local foundation. As we
would find out, that path was not a straight one. While there are many approaches
one can take to initiate the work of reform, we chose an approach that emphasized
active learning and shared decision-making while reaching a higher level of academic
achievement. We began a daunting, yet exciting, journey.
COMMUNITY OF LEARNERS
In 1990, Brookside received funding from the Marin Community Foundation for a
Collaborative Learning Community Initiative. Initially, we used the funding to provide
time for collaborative planning to build a sense of community within our school.The
goal was to have a community of peers, each with his or her own special talents, and
to establish strong bonds with each other. Staff was empowered to demonstrate their
leadership. I invited each staff member to share with me what their vision and purpose
was in education.There were dual objectives here: to build trust and respect, which in
© Center for Ecoliteracy
Learning in 1he Real World*
O Canur for Ecolitaracy/Tylar
turn would create the type of environment that would encourage teachers to engage in
active dialogue, and to offer differing opinions, which provided multiple perspectives.
It is generally accepted that informing new ways of teaching and learning takes time.
(Loucks-Horsley et al., 1998).This type of reform does not happen as the result of
a day-long workshop or even multiple-day institutes. It requires creating new
understandings, active participation, and reflection. While it is not necessary to turn
the whole system upside down to achieve this, it is important to turn the perception
of the role of teacher as content-deliverer upside down. Current school reform
emphasizes the role of the teacher as one in which there is less emphasis on
transmission of knowledge and skills through lecture and more emphasis on learning
through inquiry. As such, learning to teach does not end with college graduation—it
becomes a lifelong professional endeavor.To provide reflection and planning time that
is needed to bring about these changes, Brookside used substitute teachers to provide
classroom teachers time for grade-level meetings. One requirement was that the
grade-level groups report on their work to the whole staff so that everyone was kept
informed of the progress we Were making.
We were also determined that in our collaborative learning community, we would
become a systemic group of learners that included the Brookside parent community,
the teachers, and the students.Together, we would become active, learners. Reform
efforts have shown that if parents are kept informed of the need to change as well as
the nature of the change, they become strong advocates and can help the reform effort
by supporting their children to learn in new ways. (Loucks-Horsley et al., 1998).
© Center for Ecoliteracy
Learning in 1he Real World*
€> Center for Ecoincracy/Tyicr
SEEKERS OF MEANING
We know from brain research that humans are seekers of meaning. As educators,
we can ask the open-ended questions that elicit other questions—questions that
engage—or we can go in the opposite direction and believe we already have all the
answers. Renate and Geoffrey Caine, learning and education researchers who developed
the principles of brain/mind learning, stress the importance of experiential learning.
Their approach suggests designing integrated curriculum that emphasizes contextual
knowledge in which subject areas are perceived as resources in the service of a central
focus. At Brookside, we used environmental project-based learning as the way in which
teachers could achieve this integration. Students were engaged in learning experiences
in complex, real-world projects through which they developed and applied skills and
knowledge. Author and systems theorist, Fritjof Capra advocates that “learning in the
real world aids the development of both the individual student and the school commu
nity, and it is one of the best ways for children to contribute to building a sustainable
future.”
From the start, what drove much of our work at Brookside was our school
mission and our clear vision for the school.This began with a desire to create a.
learning community with shared leadership. Slowly the system began to change from
a traditional top-down, hierarchical one to a system in which staff, students, parents, and
other community members were included as active participants in the leadership and
networks of the school. With this type of system in place, everyone shares information
that improves the organization and builds up the community.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © Center for Ecoliteracy
Learning in the Real World-
Sandy Neumann with Brookside students.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROJECT-BASED LEARNING
Changing a school system takes time. Researchers in school reform encourage an
early focus on management and a later focus on student learning (Loucks-Horsley,
1996). About two years into the process of nurturing this learning community,
Brookside began to use environmental project-based learning. Using this strategy with
students encourages them to learn on their own while teachers facilitate the learning
—from academic to organizational to social—that students will need to handle
whatever may arise from their projects.
Additionally, environmental project-based learning allows curriculum integration..
Fritjof Capra observes that “teachers, students, administrators, and parents are all
interlinked in a network of relationships, as they work together to facilitate learning.
The teaching does not flow from the top down, rather there is a cyclical exchange of
information.The focus is on learning and everyone in the system .is both a teacher and a
learner. Feedback loops are intrinsic to the learning process and feedback becomes the
key purpose of assessment. Systems thinking is crucial for understanding the functioning
of learning communities.” (Understanding Living Systems, unpublished manuscript).
Teachers in grade-level team meetings planned how to integrate their projects into
the curriculum, looking at grade-level frameworks and state standards to see how they
incorporated into the project. In all the environmental project-based learning that we
did at Brookside, there were at least three different subjects integrated from the areas
of language arts, science, math, social studies, art, or community studies.The prospect
© Center for Ecoliteracy
Learning in 1he Real World’
VISION
articulate the principles
of ecology and systems thinking'
• incorporate'learning theory
create a common language based:'’v
upon ecological principles,science
and sys terns' thinking
maintain clear vision
cultivate
school-wide
leadership
engage In project
based learning
achieve
sustainable
outcomes
emphasize active
learning with teacher
. as facilitator
n
o
create a rich web
of relationships to
sustain the. program
begin
curriculum
build
community
cultivate a
sense of place
(ecologically and culturally)
begin
eco-actipri project
(e.g. habitat restoration)
experience and explore,
processes of ecology in
the natural world
(
PLACE
Mapping the Terrain of Brookside School Reform
© Center for Ecoliteracy
Learning in 1he Real World’
of making environmental project-based learning the central focus of Brookside’s
school reform efforts was controversial among many of the staff. We spent a year
debating various aspects of the proposal as we created our vision. In fact, it was during
these discussions that Laurette Rogers and her fourth-grade class began the Shrimp
Project, their watershed restoration to save the endangered California Freshwater
Shrimp. In a sense, the Shrimp Project became a laboratory for testing our thoughts
and expectations about project-based learning. Laurette generously shared her
successes and mistakes with staff. Over the next few years, as we designed and
implemented various projects, we became convinced that when students are problem
solvers and learn how to.use group process to accomplish tasks, everyone, including
the teacher, becomes a learner and participant. In this way, learning has true meaning.
CONNECTING TO PLACE
In 1996, Brookside received a grant from the Center for Ecoliteracy to create an
environmental project-based learning program, providing our students the opportunity
to directly experience the natural world around them. Professor of Environmental
Studies at Oberlin College and writer David W. Orr laments that, “other than as a
collection of buildings where learning is supposed to occur, place has no particular
standing in contemporary education... a great deal of what passes for knowledge is
little more than abstraction piled on top of abstraction, disconnected from tangible
experience, real problems, and the places where we live and work.. .Place is nebulous ■
to educators because to a great extent we are a displaced people for whom our
immediate places are no longer sources of food, water, livelihood, energy, materials,
friends, recreation, or sacred inspiration.” (Orr, 1992).
© Center for Ecoliteracy
7-
Learning In iho Real World*
Rather than add more layers of curriculum to study place, we incorporated a sense
of place into the work we were doing.Through environmental project-based learning
we were able to combine intellectual growth with real-life experience. Learning takes
place both inside and outside the school. Students learned from the creek that flows
through the school campus and the gardens on the school grounds.Their learning
focused on themes such as diversity, cycles, and interdependence. Students became
familiar with our local landscape; they learned the names and habits of our flora and
fauna.They adopted special spots on the school grounds to observe and chronicle the
seasons.We invited members from the local community to share their knowledge and.
history of our place.The students grew to understand the place where they lived.
They also gained much more than an intellectual understanding of place.Through
our projects we had opportunities for experiential learning.The Shrimp Project
students worked on a tangible problem—restoration of a habitat to help save an
endangered species, and we all learned in the process—students, parents, teachers,
community members—to reinhabit our places, restoring context to our lives in the
process.
What began as the effort of one class to help save an endangered freshwater
shrimp has evolved into the STRAW Project (Students and Teachers Restoring a
Watershed). Laurette Rogers, the teacher that originated the project in her 4th grade
classroom at Brookside, is now the Director of the expanded program. STRAW, a
project of the Center for Ecoliteracy and The Bay Institute, is an extraordinary collabo
ration of organizations dedicated to restoring watersheds. These partners share a
common vision of sustainability and concern for our children and their future.
Over 100 classes participate in mapping riparian terrain, testing water quality,
researching riparian wildlife populations, clearing creek debris, and implementing public
education campaigns to clean up watersheds. As students come to understand their
relationship to natural systems and cycles, they gain a useful context for understanding
sustainable and equitable patterns of living.
In order to create sustainable communities there is a need to understand our place
in nature, including watersheds, ecosystems, and the cycles of life.Through working
together to restore this watershed we have renewed one another’s sense of place and
belonging.
Center for Ecoliteracy
2522 San Pablo Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94702
website: www.ecoliteracy.org
email: info@ecoliteracy.org
phone: (510) 845-4595
© Center for Ecoliteracy
0
Learning In the Real World-
Ensure that cafeterias are part of the environmental education of students and staff through reducing waste
I.
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composting, recycling and purchasing recycled material.
D. Sustainable Agriculture
•
I. Put chase food from school gardens and local farmers as a first priority, based on availability and acceptability.
•Child Nutrition Services will coordinate its menus with school garden production and provide to garden
coordinators a- list of the produce it wishes to purchase.
2.
Work with the Alameda County Cooperative Bid (13 school districts) to increase the amount of products
purchased from local farms and organic food suppliers. .
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E. Nutrition Education and Professional Development
I.
Provide regular professional development to enable the Food Services Staff to become full partners in
providing excellent food for our students.
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2.
Provide regular training,, at least annually, to teachers and the Food Service Staff on basic nutrition, nutrition
education, and benefits of organic and .sustainable agriculture.
3.
Provide Child Nutrition Services with USDA approved computer software, training and support to imple
ment nutrient-based menu planning.
E Business Plan
I .The Board of Education shall do a comprehensive cost/benefit analysis and business plan.The plan shall
include an examination of different development models of increased fresh food preparation at the central
. and satellite kitchens.
4 G.
Public Information
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I., Each year in March, Child Nutrition Services shall prepare The Director's Annual Report for the Board of
Education, which.’will include:
’
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a) Description of the level of service for each site and level of participation;
b) Profit and Loss Statement for the past fiscal year;
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c) Outreach, and Promotion Marketing Plan (with assistance from Advisory Committee);
d) Budget for the future year;
e) Report on the progress in meeting the food policy goals;
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f) Nutritional quality of the food being served;
g) Inventory of equipment;
h) Budget for maintenance and replacement equipment;
I) Accounting of Child’Nutrition Services' financial reserve and a budget allocating the reserve. •
The Berkeley Unified School District’s Food Policy, Director's Annual Report, Monthly Menus and food
2.
policy information shall be available, at District Office and on the Board of Education’s Web site.
3.
H.
A summary of the Director's Annual Report shall be distributed aS part of the April and May menus.
Public Policy
I.
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Advocate for label disclosure:
a) Request State and-Federal representatives support-legislation that will clearly label food products that
have been irradiated, genetically modified or have been exposed to bovine growth hormones.
b) ’Send a. Board of Education resolution requesting support for labeling legislation to:
I.) Every School-Board in the State of California.
)2. The State School Boards Association..
) The Nation School. Boards Association.
3.
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“
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• • .
1. Establishment of a Child Nutrition Advisory Committee
.
I. Child Nutrition Advisory. Committee shall be established to discuss food-related topics of concern to the
school community and help make policy recommendations to the Board of Education.
2. The 24 Member Child Nutrition Advisory Committee shall be as follows:
a) 10 Community/Parent representatives appointed by the Board of Education ■.
b) The Superintendent.
.
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• ’ '
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■ c) The Director of Child Nutrition Services.
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d) 3 Classified employees appointed by their employee organization.
e) 3 Teachers, (elementary middle and high school) appointed by their employee organization.
f) I Principal appointed by their employee organization.
g) 5 Students (3 middle school and 2 high .school) appointed by student government
3.The Advisory Committee shall meet at least six times a year at hours convenient for public participation..
.4.The Duties and Responsibilities shall be as follows:
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a) Present to the Board of-Education an Annual Report in April of each .year on the status of meeting •
the food policy goals.The report shall contain:
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I.) Review and comment on the Director's Annual Report, Profit and Loss Statement, Marketing
.
Plan and Business Plan. •
2.) Recommendations for improving the delivery, and cost effectiveness of food services.
b) Assist the Director of Child Nutrition Service in the development and implementation of the’ Out
reach and Promotion Marketing plan.
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• .
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c) Review and report by February I to the Board'of'Education on recommendations to eliminate
potentially harmful food additives and processes.
‘
d) Make periodic reports, as the Advisory Committee deems necessary.
•
e)’Establish rules for decision-making;
J.
Maintenance and Repair of Equipment
I.The.Board of Education instructs the Maintenance Committee to include kitchen facilities, food preparation
and storage of equipment as high priority, in its comprehensive maintenance policy.
2. Modernize computer equipment and programs, and institute an automated accounting system.
K.
Community Use of School District Property .
I. District facilities, including school kitchens shall be available’to community based groups for their use and
enjoyment under terms established by the Board of Education.
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A copy of this document is available at www.ecoliteracy.org.
<
'
A Garden in Every School
The garden classroom is an ideal setting in which students begin to
understand the complexities of natural.systems and the need to
conserve resources.The Project calls for the creation of a garden
classroom in every school in the Berkeley Unified School District, and
the integration of a curriculum which promotes awareness of the *
relationship between the way food is grown, the environment, and
health.
■ '
Through studying the entire food system, from seed to plate, stu
dents come to understand how food reaches the table and the
relationship of agriculture and environment.The garden classroom, is
used to illustrate cycles and systems, such as soil fertility, waste cycles,
and watersheds. .
As students come to understand their relationship to natural systems
and cycles, they can begin to form a context for more sustainable and
equitable patterns of living. Key to this understanding is the little
garden at the school and the lessons it has to teach.
©Tyler •
An integrated curriculum utilizes the garden as a context for teaching
subject matter in the state frameworks. Math, history, science, litera
ture, writing, art and music^-all can be associated with activities in
the garden and these subjects can be enriched and anchored by the
energy and excitement found in the garden cfassroom.
The study of ecology is,
vety essentially,
a study of relationships.
Traditionally in science,
The partners in this effort share a common vision of sustainability .
and concern for our children and their future.They.recognize a need
to understand our place in nature, and to know more about food
and ecosystems and the cycles of life in order to create sustainable.
communities.
’
’
we have tried to weigh
and measure things,
-
but relationships cannot
be measured and weighed;
relationships need
to be mapped.
Fritjof Capra,
Systems theorist, author, and a founding
director of the Center for Ecoliteracy
Public Policy Initiatives
The Project works at multiple levels to. bring .about policy changes
which affect regional food systems. Through the leadership of former
Assemblyman-Tom Bates and other community leaders at the school
district level, the Berkeley Unified School District Board of Education
has drafted a food policy which guides its school nutrition service.
The premier goal of that policy is “to ensure that no student.in , •
Berkeley is hungry”. In order to achieve that goal, the ‘district is
preparing to serve a healthy and nutritious breakfast, lunch and after
school snack daily to every student at every school, regardless-of
ability to pay. The district has proposed that meals served at school
exceed current dietary guidelines and are nutritious, fresh, tasty,
organic, locally grown and reflective of Berkeley’s cultural diversity
every where can have
At the municipal level, the Food Systems Project has assisted in the
formation of a Berkeley Food Policy Council to assess the state jof
the local food system and to. provide a framework for. action for
local government regarding issues of hunger; access and nutritional
health.
three meals a day
fortheir bodies.
education and culture
At the state and federal levels, the project is working with represen
tatives of the. state and regional federal offices of the USDA solving'
^problems collaboratively around policies which affect the school
nutrition service, low income residents, and family farms.
• for their minds,
and dignity
Berkeley Unified School District Food Policy
andfreedom
‘ 4TheBUSD Board of Education recognizes the important
for their spirits.
connections between a healthy diet and a student’s ability to
. learn effectively and achieve high standards in schoqlThe Board
Dr. Martin Luther Kihg.^r.
Nobel Prize1 Acceptance Speech
December^! 0,
Oslo, Norway
y .
also recognizes the school's role, as part of the larger community, ■
TO PROMOTE-FAMILY HEALTH, SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE AND
ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION. BUSD'S EDUCATIONAL MISSION IS TO
IMPROVE THE HEALTH OF THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY BY TEACHING STUDENTS
AND FAMILIES.WAYS TO ESTABLISH AND MAINTAIN LIFELONG HEALTHY EATING
HABITS THROUGH. NUTRITION EDUCATION, EXPERIENCES IN THE GARDEN AND
THE FOOD SERVED IN SCHOOLS. ’ f '
VI-•'
Center for Ecoliteracy
2522 San Pablo Avenue
Berkeley, C A "94702
www.ecol i teracy.org
i n fo@e co I iteracy.org
Zenobia Barlow, Executive Director
Janet Brown, Program Officer Food and Farming
Food Systems. Project
2530 San Pablo Avenue, Suite ‘D’
Berkeley, California 94702
510.548.8838
fax 510. 548.8849
www.foodsystems.org
info@foodsystems.org
©•mSES*"'
A — R'l —
3s $
Working Systemically
© Zenobia Barlow
Food Systems Project
Ct is working to improve the health of children and families in the •
Hh^dctby:
jn every school in the district,
BhiLfcgms-based curriculum,
fajwrh in the BUSD child nutrition service,
Council.
<hool
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