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school 
Fri Jan 21, 2011 at 08:19:29 AM PST
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Crossposted from the Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet.
 John and Joyce Wanda grew up in the villages of Bumwalukani and Bupoto in Eastern Uganda. In 1995 they came to the United States through a lottery visa and settled in Arlington, Virginia. After exposure to the Arlington public schools through their children, John and Joyce wanted to provide the same opportunities for the children growing up in their home villages. "Coming from the rural, poor village that I do, I understand what it is to feel like you can't help yourself to succeed," said John. "I wanted the children of my home to see what a good education is like and that they do have options."
At first the goal was just to provide an education. In 1999, they started donating tuition for five children in Uganda to attend school. Within a few years, that program had grown to 126 students and John and Joyce decided to build a school. And every year, notes John, another program is added to the project. "We realized that there was a real demand for education," said John. "Then we realized that kids couldn't learn when they were sick so we started the clinic. Kids can't learn when they are hungry either and so we started the farm."
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Sat Mar 27, 2010 at 07:01:01 AM PDT
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( - promoted by Jill Richardson)
By Ed Bruske
aka The Slow Cook
The Chicago Tribune reports today that schools there are undertaking a major revamping of menus, removing sugary foods such as Pop- Tarts and embracing Institute of Medicine recommendations that call for more vegetables and whole grains.
Chicago public schools use the same food service provider--Chartwells--as the District of Columbia, where Pop-Tarts and candied cereals are routinely served for breakfast. The Chicago schools will reduce serving nachos to just once a week in high school, and once a month in elementary schools. According to the Tribune, sweet packaged desserts will also be reduced to weekly treats. Doughnuts and Pop-Tarts will be eliminated entirely.
The new guidelines state that "no items served may contain 'dessert of candy type' ingredients or flavors such as chocolate etc." Apparently that will not affect flavored milk, such as the chocolate and strawberry milk that are ubiquitous in D.C. school cafeterias. Another exception to the rule is Chocolate Mini-Wheats cereal--also served here in the District--because it is high in fiber. The new Chicago rules require that all breakfast cereals contain no more than five grams of sugar unless they provide three or more grams of fiber.
The Tribune further reports that the new rules "include meal planning guidelines that generally meet Institute of Medicine recommendations developed last year at the request of the U.S. Department of Agriculture" that call for increased servings of vegetables and whole grains. But it was unclear whether the Chicago approach included the IOM's call for increased portion sizes of vegetables, which has been rejected by drafters of "Healthy Schools" legislation pending before the D.C. Council because school officials say they can't guarantee kids will eat the vegetables they make and not throw them in the trash.
The Tribune reporter who wrote the story, Monica Eng, said in an e-mail she believes the schools are specifically targeting nachos, cookies, Pop-Tart and doughnuts "because of specific page one stories I wrote singling them out." Eng has been nominated for a James Beard award for a story she wrote about nachos served daily in Chicago schools.
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Sun Feb 07, 2010 at 08:37:03 AM PST
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How about a high school class that takes students from the inner city, most of them from poor families, to the butcher shop to show them where the meat comes from, and to farms to show them where their food is grown? And has them run large gardens to grow food for themselves and their families?
They also read articles by writers like Michael Pollan and Wendell Berry and watch documentaries like Food, Inc. The teacher has them work at a farmers' market and do volunteer work with the food-challenged.
This class is run out of the Automotive High School in Brooklyn and is one of the most popular classes offered. Perhaps because the teacher also takes them to a farm where they get to make apple cider and apple pies, feed the pigs, and sweep up cow manure. In short the students learn that their food doesn't just come from packages in the supermarket and from McDonalds and Burger King.
This sounds like a really neat course that I wish had been offered decades ago when I was in high school. If I had taken it, I might have chosen to go into farming myself.
Chek it out in the NYTimes at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02...
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Tue Nov 24, 2009 at 14:44:53 PM PST
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( - promoted by JayinPortland)
I'm a high school junior, and since I was a freshman I've been trying to get my school to be more environmentally friendly. I've tried several different paths. The first was starting an environmental club - and it failed. Basically, kids use it to get something on their transcript and we haven't gotten anything done. The second major attempt of mine was to go directly to the school board. I proposed things to them at a meeting that would help the environment and save money. They very respectfully didn't act on any of my suggestions - although I did follow up with someone and found out that the school has been consistently reducing their energy usage.
I've tried a few other, smaller things, as well, but now I'm working on something that is so close to success I can taste it: a community garden.
This blog post is for a mini blog action day at GreenChange.org, where I am the "blogging coordinator." The theme is taking local action.
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