An Attack on School Gardens

The Attack:

Sunday, I got all fired up about a post on GardenRant on school gardens. Apparently, a journalist had written a scathing article in Atlantic magazine spouting that educational gardens are a waste of money, are taking time away from core lessons in the classrooms and are forcing children to grow up to be poor farm laborers.

The woman who wrote this article believes that when teaching at-risk kids, you "should strip away every program and resource that is not essential to the mission of schooling."

She also believes that if these kids want veggies, we only need to keep their grocery stores well stocked. She states:

"This seems to me a more sensible approach to getting produce to children than asking the unfortunate tykes to spend precious school hours growing it themselves."

Obviously she doesn't "get it" when it comes to educational gardens and has no intention of investigating enough to understand. She does not understand the way the brain makes connections with real life experiences allowing for better cataloging and retrieval of that information.  She obviously has not studied or even read about Multiple Intelligences and how not every child can learn by drills. And she does not have a real grasp of what it means to be poor.

The Truth:

Most of the people I spoke to were unable to read the entire article. They said it was too hard to stomach the inaccuracies and leaps of logic. I agree with the assessment, but I did read it to the end. I found it very amusing that someone with such a high opinion of themselves, could

go on to demonstrate such poor logic in their thinking.

But, when I saw that a commenter on Rant had believed some of the crazy allegations in the article, I had to leave a comment myself:

Dear Commenter: From reading the Atlantic piece I can see how you would get the impression that "California schools are trying to base their entire curriculum on the garden". But let me tell you, as someone who works with California Unified School Districts to implement school gardens, that is not the case and in fact, it would be completely impossible to do so! Teachers cannot teach everything outside in the garden and they are not asked to.

What these school gardens are doing (something which is not even mentioned in Atlantic piece) is drawing students away from their TV and video game mentality and getting them excited about learning. The garden is merely a tool. It is a tool used to reinforce some of the "book learning". But it is in no way, used to teach all the lessons of the day through gardening. That would be impossible.

Many of these students cannot "get" the lessons in the classroom, but when it is reinforced in a real life setting, they not only understand it, they retain it.

And the students are not just "measuring the garden" for math. They are doing (gasp) much more extensive math calculations in the garden. And students are not writing recipes instead of essays. Those allegations are crazy! At least they are in the gardens I have experienced.

And an added benefit (again not mentioned in the Atlantic piece) is that students are learning to appreciate nature and become better stewards of the earth in a much better way than reading about nature in a book.

Perhaps, the author of that article should read "The Last Child of the Woods" about nature deficit disorder.

The entire time I read that Atlantic piece, I keep wondering where this lady was coming from. Did she have a bad experience with a school garden? Is she jealous of something? What is her real beef? Because honestly, she is so far off base...it is scary.

A Counter Attack:

The good news is that another writer at the Atlantic, Corby Kummer, wrote an excellent counter article HERE in which he points out how far off base the original article is. (Corby is the author of The Pleasures of Slow Food)

And another point I would like to counter from the article: School gardens are not designed just for the poor. They are meant for everyone and children of all backgrounds reap huge benefits. Just read "Last Child in the Woods" to understand the seriousness of our children growing up in front of a video screen. Middle class kids have a huge disconnect between nature and the food we eat.

School gardens promote nutrition awareness, eco-friendly practices, an appreciation for the earth, a connection with nature and so, so much more. And they do this across all levels of the economic scale.

Why?

Re-reading the original attack article today, got me thinking about a possible agenda. What is it with this woman? I'm not sure. But I do think that there is more to this attack than a belief that planting a seed is a recipe for disaster.

I still have hope for this lady. Perhaps someday, she will wake up and "get it". She will understand the science behind teaching our children to love the land and retaining school lessons with hands-on experience. Perhaps she will have a wonderful "Ahh-Ha" moment...and then...only then...will she be horribly embarrassed by what she wrote this month.

For further reading:

Raising A Crop of Young Gardeners

Nature Deficit Disorder

Comments

[Kat]

Great rebuttal. Flanagan does make the point in the Atlantic article that gardening won't improve test scores in math. This may be true. But obviously math alone doesn't seem to help children learn that 90%, as in the phrase "90% of all your food is controlled by only 4 agribusinesses" is too large a number. Perhaps the understanding that comes from raising their own food will.

[Shawna Coronado]

Saying that educating children via a school garden is a negative thing is one of the most appalling things I have ever heard. No wonder you were so riled up. I firmly believe that teaching the American public how to stay in touch with food might just save some lives and build stronger brains - - preventing nature deficit disorder and so much more.

Keep up the fight Theresa - we are with you!

Shawna

[Kerry]

Your points are right on. The idea that learning only happens in classrooms is completely antiquated. Besides, part of the science curriculum in elementary school usually includes growing seeds in plastic cups, so why wouldn't it be better to grow a plant that will produce something you can eat? Besides with the growing epidemic of obesity, you would think that getting kids out and active, to say nothing of actually eating real vegetables, would be embraced by almost everyone.

[Mary E. Ulrich]

Good for you Theresa, you must be a wonderful teacher. Just focus on what you are doing--ignore the negative comments. You, your students, your student's teachers/parents/neighbors... all will see the value of what they are doing. You will have an army of supporters.

If you want to be more proactive, document your program with pictures, videos, and the student's work. Is there a university nearby who could set up a research study, this would make a great dissertation topic? Your best defense is your kids. Get some hard data that even the Atlantic Monthly would understand.

[Stephanie 'Reno' Martin]

Kudos, Theresa for letting the burr under your saddle propel you into writing that comment and this blog entry. You said it perfectly! One can only hope she read your comment and is giving it serious thought.

[megan]

Honestly, the article comes off as very petty to me. The entire argument seems to be more of a personal attack against Alice Waters (who can, admittedly, be a bit much) than anything resembling advocacy for low income students. And it is very hard to take anyone seriously when they believe that one trip through Compton (by CAR, unlike most low income families...) qualifies them to report that there is an abundance of fresh food in "the hood". Really? Come on.

Having a partner who teaches nutrition education to low income children, I can tell you that they NEED gardens. Actually, in this age of Wal-Mart Supercenters and year round mangos, most American children need to spend a lot more time in the garden. I cannot tell you how many of them do not believe that potatoes grow in the dirt. They think it's "nasty".

It never ceases to amaze me that some of the most highly educated minds in our country fail to make the connection between the mess we are in environmentally and the lack of an elementary understanding of the earth. Gardens have the capacity to teach children some of the most basic fundamentals of life in a way that cannot be grasped through reading alone.

And really, have we learned nothing from the overemphasis of test scores during the Bush administration? Teaching to the test does not work.

I could go on for pages, so I'm going to force myself to stop now.

[Rebecca Sweet]

I've been sitting on a few thoughts since I read the article yesterday (I, too, read every word) and have a few points to make:

1) First off - I find it hugely ironic that at the bottom of her article she announces her next book about 'pubescent girls emotional life' - when she, herself, sounds like a petulant, jealous, bitter high school girl...hating those who have the luxury to choose to give up past careers to volunteer in the schools, hating Alice Water's, hating her wonderful restaurant, hating the servers who work there, hating those who have a passion for homegrown food, and hating those who don't live within 20 miles of Compton.

2) I AM one of those middle to upper income housewives in Northern California who have dedicated a chunk of their lives to volunteering in the schools. I implemented ALL of the landscaping at my daughter's elementary school starting with the first year it was re-opened (after lying dormant for many years waiting to be retrofitted & remodeled). After opening, it looked like a prison & the principal, teachers, children were desperate for a change in it's appearance - for many & obvious reasons. It took me 4 years of unbelievably hard physical and mental work to raise ALL the funds for 30+ trees, 20+ planting beds between each classroom wing, creating a lunch area, children's garden, etc.. Oh yeah, I also happen to live in one the top 3 wealthiest school districts in California, and I happen to love Chez Panisse. (Boy, she'd hate ME wouldn't she?)

3) Does she not understand California's Basic Aid districts and that the wealthier school districts rely HEAVILY if not ENTIRELY on volunteers and private donations to fund anything besides the basics..or our children would have to do without any of the subjects deemed 'pointless' by the State (art, field trips, after school programs and gardens ). Thank GOD for us volunteers.

4) Does she not remember that years ago, in an effort to allow fair access to better school districts for ALL children, California's legislation re-configured school district boundaries so each of the wealthier districts are required to bus in children from poor areas (East Palo Alto being one of them). Therefore, in our 'privileged' schools the kids work side by side with one another pretty much unaware of each's financial background.

5) I, personally, have worked with some of these kids from poor neighborhoods (and I mean POOR)...and you know what? It's amazing to see the pride on their faces when they see their "rich" classmates learning about something they happen to already know! Pride is a wonderful thing - it gives a person hope. I wonder how many of the poor Hispanic children felt that sense of pride, thinking "Gee...I guess what my dad does for a living (working in the fields) isn't so embarrassing...".

6) No - I'm sure no kid aspires to work stooped over in the fields, but perhaps might aspire to having a farm of their own...or anything else in the agricultural business. If they see that a value is being placed on 'sustainably-grown' food then they'll be open to pursuing careers in that line of work. If you remove that from children's lives, you remove any sense of value and any hope for our farming future - something we can't afford to lose.

Thanks for writing such a thoughtful rebuttal (both here and on yesterday's Garden Rant), and for allowing me to put down some thoughts of my own! I'll be more brief next time - I promise!

[Rebecca Sweet]

Oh gosh...I can't stop.

One more side note...

When landscaping the school, the Kindergarten teachers asked if I'd plant a Mulberry tree. Each year, the class studied China. Part of this unit was learning about the importance of silk to the Chinese culture. And who makes silk? Silkworms. And what do the worms eat? Mulberry leaves! ....hmmmm...science AND culture. A waste of time? I think not.

[Carri]

Grrrr.... I'm still mad about that article! Sometimes it's just easier if I tell myself they only write those types of things to drive traffic to their articles. In her case, maybe she's trying to attract more buyers for her book.

As a mother to a preschooler I can already see first hand that my daughter absorbs more of what I teach her if we're outside, having a hands on experience. Just because we're gardening doesn't mean that she's only learning about gardening- there's a little math, a lot of science, biology, physical education, history, arts & crafts, you name it! A few weeks ago we had one of her friends over for a bit and she proudly took the girl outside to "feed the worms". As the other little girl sat there with a look of disgust on her face, mine stuck her hand in the worm bin and pulled out a handful of worms and says "This brown stuff is not dirt, it's worm poop and it feeds our plants. They really like it." At the age of three she's able to grasp concepts that aren't discussed until high school.

[Jayme]

Since I represent an online business myself, I will refrain from saying something I'll regret later. However, I find myself wondering the same thing, "what is wrong with this woman?" and "what is the real agenda here?"

My best guess? A publicity stunt. She can't be that stupid.

[Seasonal Wisdom]

Theresa: Thanks for taking on this topic. I agree with Jayme; sounds like a partisan publicity stunt. Why else would it be so illogical?

After working with the Ventura County (CA) program, I've seen how kids are much more likely to eat fruit and vegetables once they've grown it themselves.

When combined with farm-to-school programs, this garden-based learning can revolutionize children's diets and their awareness of the origins of food. (Knowledge that earlier generations would have considered commonplace.)

In fact,research shows that garden-based learning can teach children everything from math and science (as you pointed out) to history (we all were agrarian once).

And the government has often led pro-gardening initiatives. Look at the highly successful Liberty and Victory gardens of WWI and WWII.

Sometimes we need "extremists" to draw attention to an issue. Let's hope this debate draws more national attention to all the good programs out there already helping our kids. Teresa

[Theresa Loe/LivingHomegrown]

Oh my gosh you guys!

Thank you to Kat, Shawna, Kerry, Mary, Stephanie, Megan, Rebecca, Carri, Jayme and Teresa! Thank you for all the wonderful comments you made. So well spoken!

I feel sooo much better now!

~Theresa

[Theresa Loe/LivingHomegrown]

One more thing: A few years ago, I had to do some research on memory and learning. It is actually very interesting how the brain files information.

The more "connections" you can make to something, the more likely that your brain can "find" it later. It is kind of like the way we can put multiple labels on our email. By doing so, we can find that email later in any number of "files".

Also, the brain is more likely to "store" information when it is encoded through the senses (touch, smell, hearing). So when a child studies social studies in the context of a garden setting, they make multiple connections. All of this makes the information more "retrievable".

It really is fascinating.

[Joe Lamp'l]

Fantastic post Theresa to this woman's ridiculous and out of touch article. Thankfully so many others see through her nonsense and took the time to share their thoughts with you.

[M A Newcomer]

Wow, Theresa, nice rebuttal! I was floored when I saw that Atlantic EVEN published that foolish piece. Thanks for standing up.

[Troy]

Wonderful rebuttal to a mindless article!

Who was it anyway, who said "Tell me, I'll forget. Show me, I'll remember. Involve me, I'll understand."?

[Theresa Loe/LivingHomegrown]

Joe: Thanks so much for your support. Much appreciated.

M. A. Newcomer: I was floored too. I'm glad you like my little rebuttal.

Troy: I forgot about that saying until you mentioned it. If applies perfectly here. Thank you.

[Mike Lieberman]

Great post Theresa.

What's more important sine, cosine and tangent or knowing (and growing) the food that provides you with nutrition and fuels your body and mind?

When did growing your own food become something that was almost looked down upon?

A lot of the current education system does is teach kids to consume, consume, consume.

Kids aren't taught about debt, balancing a check book, APRs and the like. If they were, they might not get that credit card (or student loan) and be forced to take a job that they don't like just to pay those bills and buy more stuff.

I could go on and on, but I'll stop.

Thanks for writing this post.

[Theresa Loe/LivingHomegrown]

Excellent points Mike.

When I was in college, I was SO wishing someone, somewhere had taught me about money. It is too easy to make mistakes when we are already out in the world. I try hard to teach my kids about finance now.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for your support.

~Theresa

[MrBrownThumb]

Hi Theresa,

I put up my thoughts on the article the other day on my blog. My feelings on it are pretty much different than everyone else here. Except for the commenter above who said it sounded it was more of a personal attack on Alice Waters. I agree, but as a fan of snark I really appreciate the digs she made. I don't think she really has a problem with school gardens, she has a problem with this program by Alice Waters. And really, I kinda agree. I mean school gardens are suppose to be good things but the kids at this particular school garden program as testing lower than their peers at schools without garden. How does that make any sense? Shouldn't they be doing better?

Anyway, regarding this part:

"She also believes that if these kids want veggies, we only need to keep their grocery stores well stocked. "

That's not what I took away from that section of the article. Before she talks about her field trip to the local grocery stores, where poor people were buying veggies to prepare-shocker!, she quoted her friend saying that they (poor minorities) only had "7-11s in the 'hood."

I thought that was really great because a lot of people seem to have this idea that all urban areas (or poor areas) are completely devoid of access to fresh foods and are populated by poor people who don't want to eat them. This belief by people who don't have real experience with the situation, like Flanagan's friend, is rather condescending and kinda biased. She makes a great point by visiting and writing about that Hispanic market, that if you want people to eat fresh foods-then you should supply the demand and the customers will follow.

Thanks for the chat on Twitter about your post.

Cheers!

[Theresa Loe/LivingHomegrown]

Dear Mr. Brown Thumb,

Thank you very much for your thoughtful comment. I am a big fan of yours and I appreciate you taking the time to state your view of the article.

Isn’t it funny how each of us can read the same thing and come away with very different views of it? We each come to the piece with our own opinions, background and experience. Certain words strike a cord in some of us that are passed over by others.

That is what makes this such an interesting world. If we all had the same views and opinions or were cookie-cutter versions of each other, it would be a boring world indeed!

I can totally see what you are saying. And I actually think we are agreeing on several points, especially that this is more of an attack on Alice Waters than anything else.

And while we are on the subject, let me just say that here in So. California, Alice Waters’ name does not go hand-in-hand with school gardens as it does up north. On the contrary, most people at our educational gardens do not even know who she is. Seriously! She is not the phenomenon she seems to be everywhere else. I hear more about her outside of California than I do in my neck of the woods – Los Angeles.

But where you and I part ways, my friend, is on what the article is saying about educational gardens in general. Yes, it is a piece on The Edible Schoolyard. But you feel that is where the criticism stops and I, on the other hand, feel that the author is bashing all educational gardens and she is using The Edible Schoolyard as her example.

I went through the piece again and throughout the article she says “educational gardens” in the plural (not the singular). She even says that it is the

“state’s Department of Education that is to blame for allowing these gardens to hijack the curricula of so many schools.”

Nowhere do I see her say that only the Edible Schoolyard is a failure and that all other school gardens are a success. So on this point, I guess you and I will have to "agree to disagree". And that is okay.

But even if you are correct (and I am wrong) in what the intent of the article was – Even if the author really only thinks that the Edible Schoolyard is a failure and all other educational gardens are wonderful – the article is written in such a way that most readers feel it is an attack on all educational gardens.

And so, if that was not her intent as a writer, then she failed.

She spoke of educational gardens in generalities too much when she should have made the article about one garden only. Most of her readers missed the point. But I suppose we could argue about that too since you feel you got the point and I didn’t. LOL Perhaps we can save that for another day!

Thank again for writing. I am glad that we can disagree and still be friends. I thoroughly enjoy our conversations on twitter.

[Kelly Senser]

Thanks for your post, Theresa. Though I believe the benefits of school gardens are numerous, I'm most happy for the fact that the one at my children's school helps kids (and adults!) connect with nature. Watching the sunflower seeds they plant grow into towering blooms that feed birds (and bring new seeds for sowing!), delighting in the arrival of monarch butterflies that feast on milkweed (part of the life cycle they studied in class), witnessing the comings and goings of nesting tree swallows ... are among their experiences. Even just sitting garden-side to sketch or read quietly seems a welcome treat when outdoor recess time is so limited these days. Cheers to fresh air!

A community coming together to support the garden is also a reward. What started as a small patch filled with wildlife-friendly natives transplanted from neighbors' gardens now includes raised beds for growing vegetables, seed feeders and more--the product of students, teachers, staff and parents sharing their interests so that others might get growing. Good stuff!

[Theresa Loe/LivingHomegrown]

Ahh yes. Good stuff indeed Kelly!

Parents, teachers AND the kids need more outside nature time don't they?

Thanks for your comment!

~Theresa

[chris m.]

Hi,
It's wonderful to see how much we gardeners understand about what we're doing. The writer of this article seems to have some rage about something but it's not clear what her goal is.

My own experience gardening with children is how touching it is to see their response to plants and gardens.
Many inner city children have never been in a garden and the attention you give them in talking about plants and showing how to plant is incredible.
You feel as though they live in some kind of warped world where they don't notice the sun, nor the bees on the flowers, nor the smell of fresh earth.... all the things we take for granted when we garden.
We should congratulate, not criticize any school district that puts gardens in the school.
Yes, they're being asked to add one more thing to their agenda but it is so important to bring the earth to the children in a garden.

Thanks for all your inspiring, well-informed comments.
Chris-in the country in upstate NY!

[Billie]

If she had seen the Discovery Toys "Garden Works" set designed for children, the author of the GardenRant article might whistle a different tune. Kids can learn much while playing with garden tools and reading about how seeds grow. They can learn about planning, planting, growing, tending gardens with the useful exclusive activities guide that comes as part of the set. The companion book, "A Seed Grows", has marvelous illustrations and kid-friendly scientific information about how the seed sprouts, flowers, is pollinated and bears fruit. Find it at www.toysofdiscovery.com