WASHINGTON 鈥� School gardens are no longer a rarity.
These days, it鈥檚 common to spot pepper plants and tomato towers in schoolyards throughout the country, as more educators turn to dirt to teach lessons on healthy eating and the root of the food system.
But at Horace Mann Elementary School in Northwest D.C., instruction isn鈥檛 confined to a few cedar-raised beds. After leafy vegetables are planted and cared for, students harvest the crops, chop them up and serve them to more than 400 of their peers for lunch.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really fun having a conversation with them about whether they prefer the Swiss chard last week to the pak choi this week,鈥� said Amy Jagodnik, who has been the school鈥檚 garden coordinator since 2004.
Jagodnik鈥檚 third-floor classroom, which is filled with seedlings and outfitted with a small kitchen, opens directly to the school鈥檚 rooftop garden. It鈥檚 there where a class of third-graders pick parsley and pak choi from commercial-grade garden towers on Monday mornings.
Architect Michael Marshall designed the rooftop farm, one of several gardens at Horace Mann, during the school鈥檚 renovation three years ago. 聽
鈥淭he connection to the exterior is not an accident in this design. A lot of these young kids, when they grow up, rooftop gardens are going to be very common as far as sustainability and urban living. Why not prepare them?鈥� Marshall said.
Once the greens are gathered and washed, they鈥檙e hand-chopped and thrown into large stainless steel bowls, where they鈥檙e tossed in a simple dressing of olive oil, apple cider vinegar, salt and sugar.
At lunch, Jagodnik and a few helpers walk around the cafeteria and serve the salad du jour.
鈥淪o we鈥檙e going to each table and we鈥檙e engaging with each student and asking them if they would like a sample or if they would like a salad,鈥� Jagodnik explained.
It鈥檚 not uncommon to be met with resistance and a few creative excuses 鈥� Jagodnik has even heard students say they 鈥渁lready had something green for breakfast.鈥� So she considers the program a success when the kids agree to try just one leaf.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e laying the foundation for global stewards,鈥� Jagodnik said about the school鈥檚 investment in its gardening program.
鈥淵ou want children to care about their environment. You want them to know how to eat healthy, where their food comes from and how to support that, even if they don鈥檛 become scientists or become environmentalists, they still have that foundation.鈥�
