Public School Children Grow, Cook, Eat, and Learn at Food Program's Urban Garden

Children from New York City public school 116 came to NYU this past June to gather vegetables and cook lunch with their harvest. The celebration was the final class of "Grow, Cook, Eat, Learn," a course created by Jennifer Berg, director of food studies, and adjunct faculty member Joy Santiofer. The program, which received an NYU Sustainability Fund Grant, educated 55 first and fifth grade students about where their food comes from, as well as the environmental, ecological, health, and ethical decisions associated with food production.

For the semester-long study, Berg and Santiofer visited PS 116 classrooms to discuss basic notions of food, agriculture, and the farm-to-table food system. "We incorporated educational standards throughout this project to make our curriculum interdisciplinary," Berg said. "Each week we introduced aspects of mathematics through measuring water, plant growth, as well as calculating how many inches between seeds."

The team encouraged children to keep a journal, write poems, and create art. For the social studies component there was a discussion of early Native American agriculture, including a snack of popcorn and dried green beans.

A highlight of the program was planting a garden, which began in milk cartons in the classroom. When the crops became unwieldy they were transferred to wooden cold frame boxes in Washington Square Village, which were built by NYU's gardening shop. The children visited NYU several times to see the garden's growth, water their harvest, thin out plants, and weed.

On harvest day, the children bagged their produce and cooked lunch in the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health's kitchen laboratory. The menu was field greens with vinaigrette, roasted beets and carrots, foccacia with garlic and spinach, frittatta with cheese and herbs, and strawberry shortcake for desert.

For Fanny, a first grader, the best part of the day was "finding a carrot that was really big." For her teacher, Chelsea Silber, the Grow, Cook, Eat, Learn Project was special because it gave "a chance for kids who never got to put their hands in soil to grow something from seed to fruit to flower."