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Introduction 1 Overview 2010/2011 - UBC undergraduate students’ findings 3 Participating schools and associated projects 7 UBC courses descriptions and activities 9 UBC student activity report by school 17 - Kitsilano Secondary 19 - David Thompson Secondary 21 - Windermere Secondary 25 - Vancouver Technical Secondary 28 - Gladstone Secondary 30 - Britannia Secondary 33 - Sir Winston Churchill Secondary 34 - University Hill Secondary 34 - Queen Alexandra Elementary 36 - Sir William Van Horne Elementary 38 - General Brock Elementary 39 - Queen Elizabeth Elementary 40 - Tyee Elementary 41 - Sir Wilfred Grenfell Elementary 42 - David Lloyd George Elementary 43 - Graham Bruce Elementary 44 - Bayview Elementary 45 - Grandview ¿uuqinak’uuh Elementary 47 - Sir John Franklin Elementary 50 - Simon Fraser Elementary 52 - Trafalgar Elementary 53 - L’Ecole Bilingue Elementary 55 Request for proposals and Summer Institute 2011 56
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T he Think&EatGreen@School Project is a Community-University Research Alliance, partnering UBC, the Vancouver School Board and other organizations promoting change in what public school students eat, learn and do at school in relation to
food, health and the environment (listed below). The project aims to engage students with the sources of their food through growing, preparing, sharing and sustainably man-aging food waste at school. Think&EatGreen@School aims to foster food citizenship by providing the entire community of learners—from students to professors, teachers to chefs, farmers, gardeners, restaurateurs, and nutrition and health professionals— with op-portunities to participate in the development of healthy and sustainable school food sys-tems During the first year of the project, close to 400 UBC undergraduate and graduate stu-dents worked in specific projects in 21 public schools in Vancouver, led by 30 co‐investigators and partners from a wide range of disciplines and community‐based food, environment, health & education organizations. This report is a summary of the work con-ducted by the UBC undergraduate student teams in the 2010-11 academic year, the first one of Think&EatGreen@School. Needless to say, there is a spectrum of detail and articu-lation amongst the undergraduate team reports, and the leadership of Think&EatGreen@School does not necessarily share the views expressed in all of the re-ports. The UBC students have truly benefitted from the opportunity to move their learning outside of the lecture hall and into the community. Through this pedagogical exercise, the students have been exposed to the current literature on food, health and environ-ment and sustainable food systems, participated in field trips to local farms and schools, and had the opportunity to work with Vancouver leaders in all aspects of food systems. They have been working closely with the most accomplished teachers, community gar-deners, urban agriculturalists, chefs, restaurateurs, and restaurant designers. These activities will continue for at least the next five years. Incoming cohorts of UBC students will build upon and deepen the work of their colleagues from previous years, beginning where they left off, spending more time working in the project and in the schools. Through this iterative process, the project intends to deliver school specific projects and collect data regarding school programs and policies, teachers’ practices, and students’ knowledge, attitudes and behaviors related to food, health and the environment.
The Think & Eat Green @ School project comprises a wide range of partners, described in five general categories:
Local community‐based organizations that focus on food security, sustainability, and related issues, including the Environmental Youth Alliance, the Society Promoting Environ-IN
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mental Conservation, Growing Chefs, and Farm Folk/City Folk;
Permanent city‐wide organizations and bodies, involved in governance, service delivery and policy‐making, including the Vancouver School Board, the Vancouver Food Policy Council, and Vancouver Coastal Health;
Provincial or national community‐based organizations, including the Public Health Association of British Columbia, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, and the Evergreen Foundation;
Individual city schools — 21 in the first iteration of the project in the Fall 2010 and 23 schools by the end of Spring 2011;
University‐based partners, including 15 professors and 15 graduate students from the University of British Columbia, 1 researcher from both Simon Fraser University and Ryerson University. At UBC, partners include the Faculty of Land and Food Systems, the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm, researchers from the Faculty of Education and from the schools of Landscape Architec-ture, and Community and Regional Planning. The Think & Eat Green @ School Project builds on concepts of food system sustainability, recognizing that the ways food is produced, processed, packaged, transported, consumed, and disposed of have significant impact on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and our ecological footprint. The project also encompasses the concept of food security, emphasizing that to achieve food security, all six of the following components must be present: 1. Availability of enough safe and nutritious food for everybody; 2. Affordability, making it possible for all people to satisfy their food needs within their purchasing power; 3. Accessibility of food or the ease with which people may obtain available food; 4. Acceptability, meeting diverse cultural and culinary needs, and ethical standards of respect for human and animal lives in production systems; 5. Safety, meaning that the food supply meets the sanitary standards
of Canada; 6. Sustainability, meaning that the food system does not damage the capacity of ecosystems to endure and support the permanent production and reproduction of food sources and the stability of food supply over time.
Think&EatGreen@School addresses food system sustainability by ena-bling staff and students to influence how their food is produced and where it comes from, through concrete school projects in areas of:
Food production at school (i.e. food gardens, composting and environmentally sound and productive disposal of end products);
Food consumption, preparation and procurement at school (i.e. school food programs, cooking skills, and eating spaces, farm‐to‐school programs for fresh local food);
Curriculum and teaching and learning innovations aiming at inte-grated learning on the whole cycle of food systems, from production, processing, transportation, distribution, consumption, and disposal of end food products (i.e. composing and recycling vs. “waste”) and impacts of health and environment; Food policy and institutional adaptation to climate change (policy and programs to support more healthy and sustainable food systems at school).
These concrete school projects involve collaborative learning amongst a multitude of players, from university students and researchers, health and educational institutions to a network of community‐based and community‐supported nonprofit organizations working on food, health, and the environment, linking farms to schools, city dwellers with farm-ers, school cooks with successful green chefs, restaurateurs, restaurant designers, gardeners, school authorities, teachers and students.
Schools are places where students can learn about the food system by being engaged in growing, harvesting, preparing, cooking and eating food. Schools can significantly contribute to the greening of their communities and neighbourhoods through the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and lightening of ecological foot-prints.
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Parents, students and teachers are fully engaged and committed to sustainability within the school food system.
Elementary and high school students have the knowledge and abilities to make their own food at home to bring to school, where possible.
The school system supports and teaches the development of food system skills and provides healthy, sustainable food and meal options at school
Land and Food Systems’ students envision a school where:
Mostly reporting on: 1) School
gardens / grounds & 2) School cafeterias / lunchrooms.
Students collected both qualita-tive and quantitative data.
Results varied between schools, illustrating different realities and factors affecting school food systems.
Some findings may be trans-ferable between schools.
The findings are preliminary and will be subject to verification by incoming teams.
Land and Food Systems’ student results:
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FINDINGS Strengths in school food systems
1. Food, environment, nutrition, and health are effective integrating topics to promote greener, more sustainable, and healthier school environments.
2. Most partner schools are actively working to improve school food system sustainability:
Many UBC students did not expect this level of support.
Many UBC students had not experienced attempts to bring schools into food sustainability as elemen-tary and high school students.
3. Every partner school has at least one passionate stake-holder willing to put in time and energy into enhancing and promoting school food system sustainability:
Such stakeholders need to be supported.
4. Even when meal programs are in place, food brought from home is still generally predominant.
5. Parental influence on providing and encouraging healthier and more sustainable choices for their children at school is a key component of school food systems.
6. Excellent examples of food programs and facilities exist in some of the visited schools within the Vancouver School Board (VSB).
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SCHOOL UBC COURSE ACTIVITY
Kitsilano LFS 250 Garden Maintenance & Management Plan
David Thompson LFS 250 Garden Maintenance & Management Plan; Kitchen and Cafeteria Assessment; Menu Analysis: Food, Sustaina-bility, and Health
Windermere LFS 250
Curriculum Development; Kitchen and Cafeteria Assess-ment; Menu Analysis: Food, Sustainability, and Health
Vancouver Technical LFS 250 Garden Maintenance & Management Plan
Gladstone LFS 250
Garden Maintenance & Management Plan; Curriculum Development; Kitchen and Cafeteria Assessment; Menu Analysis: Food, Sustainability, and Health
Britannia SOYL Student Leadership and Sum-mer Garden Maintenance
Sir Winston Churchill SOYL Student Leadership and Sum-mer Garden Maintenance
University Hill LFS 450 Fostering Connections with the UBC Farm
FNH 473 Sustainability Week
SOYL Student Leadership and Sum-mer Garden Maintenance
LFS 350 Development of a School Wide Composting Program
FNH 473 Enhancement of School Wide Composting Program
SOYL Student Leadership and Sum-mer Garden Maintenance
FNH 473 Garden Fiesta - Increasing Student Interest and Participa-tion in the School Garden
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Queen Alexandra LFS 250 School Food Environment Assessment
Sir William Van Horne LFS 250 School Food Environment Assessment
General Brock LFS 250 Garden Maintenance & Management Plan
Queen Elizabeth LFS 250 Garden Maintenance & Management Plan; School Food Environment Assess-ment
Tyee LFS 250 Curriculum Development
Sir Wilfred Grenfell LFS 250 Garden Maintenance & Management Plan
David Lloyd George LFS 250 School Food Environment Assessment
Graham D. Bruce LFS 350 Farm2School Salad Bar Program
Bayview LFS 250 Garden Maintenance & Management Plan
Grandview/¿uuqinak’uuh LFS 250 Garden Maintenance & Management Plan School Food Environment Assess-ment
Sir John Franklin LFS 250 School Food Environment Assessment
Simon Fraser LFS 250 School Food Environment Assessment
Trafalgar LARC 503 Plan and Design an Outdoor Classroom and Enhanced School Environment
L’Ecole Bilingue LFS 250 Garden Maintenance & Management Plan
SCHOOL UBC COURSE ACTIVITY
FNH 473 Assessing the Breakfast Program
LFS 350 Enhancing the Sustainability of a Lunch Program
FNH 473 Incorporating a Salad Bar into the School Lunch Program
FNH 473 Improving the Nutritional Status of Children through Snack Choice
APBI 402 Soil Testing and Analysis
Photo: Office.com
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Photo: © Adam Blasberg Photo: © InnerCity Farms Photo: © InnerCity Farms
The project will help teach sustainability, engage all students and promote the
positive impacts of connecting people, food and
the environment.
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Student Activity - Garden Maintenance and Management Plans (LFS 250)
Dates of Visit(s) - The UBC LFS 250 students visited Kitsilano Secondary School during the third week of November, 2010.
Methods The undergraduate students completed a Garden Maintenance and Management Plan analysis which involved making maps of the garden area, conducting and analyzing a soil sample, performing a solar analysis, a micro-climate analysis, a water analysis, a circulation analysis (looking at the flow of traffic in and around the garden) and a community analysis, which looks at the strengths and areas for improvement for the support given to the garden from the community.
General Findings Kitsilano Secondary has two separate garden areas; the garden bed and the orchard garden (see Garden Diagrams).
A. Soil Analysis: The garden bed and the orchard garden both contain sandy loam soil. This soil type is almost ideal as it is very porous and has lots of surface area making it good for aeration and drainage; however, it is fairly poor at holding nutrients. B. Water Analysis: Both of the garden locations at Kitsilano Secondary are easily watered by tap-and-hose systems. The tennis court plot is relatively flat, with good drainage and is thus unlikely to suffer from pooling problems.
C. Solar Analysis: The garden bed next to the tennis courts has no objects or other vegetation blocking it, and therefore receives almost full sun throughout the year. The orchard garden however, is surrounded on sever-al sides by the school building. Its exposure to direct sunlight is therefore limited in the summer months and very limited during the winter months.
D. Micro-climate Analysis: Due to the uniformity of the tennis court garden bed and its surroundings, there is little variance of heat and light through-out the bed. Due to its open concept, crops planted here will be more vulnerable to wind damage.
The orchard garden, as previously stated is surrounded on three sides by the school building. This setup blocks most wind from the garden, and pro-vides heat from the building to the garden, though the shade provided prevents it from getting very warm.
E. Circulation Analysis: The tennis court garden is a long low strip that is eas-ily accessible. Due to this layout there is a very low chance of it being tram-pled by those tending it, and it is unlikely that crops will be neglected as they are all very easily reached.
The orchard garden is very accessible, and is laid out in a way that makes circulation easy and straightforward. As can be seen in Figure 2 this area is very good in terms of access, circulation, and learning space. There are three entrances, lots of space to move around, and benches everywhere. Trampling should not be an issue in this garden either.
F. Community Analysis: The community support behind the Kitsilano Sec-ondary School garden is very strong. SPEC plays the main role, providing crops for planting. They also take part in lessons by taking a third of the class out to the garden and instructing through a hands-on approach. SPEC is also very involved with Kitsilano’s garden in the summer. They work with Sprouting Chefs to teach kids about healthy eating and cooking choices.
The garden at Kitsilano Secondary mainly benefits the Grade 9 French Im-mersion Ecology students who maintain, nurture, and use the produce grown in the garden. With the limited space of the garden it is difficult to equally delegate tasks to 90 students when 10 can do all the work.
Recommendations Through the above analysis, it was determined that with the full sun, warm micro-climate and shallow root depth, crops like basil, corn, blueberries, raspberries, melons, oats, and wheat could be planted in the garden bed for the summer season. The current winter crop selection; cauliflower, broc-coli, kale, rye, peas, lettuce and cabbage, are quite appropriate but
Address: 2550 W 10th Ave,
Vancouver BC V6K 2J6
Website: http://kits
ilano.vsb.bc.ca
Student population: 1,434
School Contacts:
-Raphaella Dumais (Environmental Studies,
French Immersion)
- Cheryl Hoover (H
ome Economics, Kitsilano
Secondary School)
Kitsilano Secondary
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could also be supplemented with winter wheat. It was noted that if partial shade were provided for the garden by the tennis court, a greater variety of crops could be planted. Also, planting legumes in either location would lower the need for fertilizer and associated costs, making the garden more economi-cally sustainable. With a good variety of crops, the students can not only grow and learn about the different plants but also benefit from a well-rounded diet.
Overall it was determined that the garden for the Grade 9 French Immersion Ecology class is an excellent educational tool to inform students on how to create a more sustainable lifestyle. However, currently the garden only reaches a small number of students. Fortunately, Kitsilano Secondary is already planning to expand the garden. That is a great step!
Once the garden is expanded, it will be possible, and very beneficial, to incorporate more classes, especially those outside of the French immersion program. This would expand the garden’s impact to more students and, in turn, more families. It is even possible to begin this process before the garden expansion is complete. One suggestion to do this would be to incorporate the garden into other classes, such as biology. Experiments such as viewing differ-ent splices of vegetables under a microscope to observe their cells could be used to do this. The garden could be used to support learning in topics ranging from mitosis to general botany. Using vegetables produced in the garden for these experiments would take only a handful of produce, while also including a greater number of students. Courses with less directly related content can be involved as well. For example, a math class could take the measurements needed for the planned expansion, and a shop class could be involved in building the garden boxes for the new site. There are many ways to use a school garden, and Kitsilano Secondary has a good opportunity to expand its garden program alongside the expansion of the physical garden.
Garden Diagrams
Circulation analysis, solar analysis, micro-climates analysis, and water analysis of the tennis court garden.
Circulation analysis, solar analysis, micro-climate analysis, and water analysis of the orchard courtyard garden.
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Student Activity - School Food Environment Assessment (LFS 250)
Dates of Visit(s) - The students visited the school for data collection the third week of November.
Methods The methods used for data collection included informal interviews with various stakeholders and field observation/notes. The questions asked during the inter-view included: “Does your administration support healthy eating? How?” and “Does your school have or follow any written policies that promote healthy eating?” The interviewed stakeholders included the principal, vice-principal, three teachers, and two lunch supervision aids. The observations took place throughout the day and included observation during lunchtime for both the kindergarten students, who eat separately, and the older children.
General Findings The LFS students found that there is a great interest at Sir William Van Horne in finding ways to improve food consumption and disposal practices in the school, including its food related cultural awareness. The school’s recycling program was very accessible and effective. The LFS students noticed some efforts by the food providers at school to include new items and meet the school more varied cultural preferences. Sir William Van Horne also provides a milk program to include more calcium and other nutrients into the student’s diet. The BC Fruits and Vegetable program is also in effect but the program’s sporadic delivery of food to the school makes it difficult to consistently incorpo-
rate into the school food system. Sir William Van Horne also has a garden and healthy eating and food preparation lessons to help students learn where food comes from and also how to make informed healthy eating choices. The LFS students found that the school is limited by funding for many of these programs and challenged by time constraints required for the planning and implementation of those programs by teachers and staff members who wish to help as all of this falls outside of their job description and allotted teaching time. The students also found that the time allotted for lunch was not enough. The eating areas needed improvements in illu-mination and temperature. Overall, the LFS students believe that Sir William Van Horne is interested in improvements to make the school system more secure and sustainable.
Recommendations There are numerous resources and strategies available to help Sir William Van Horne enhance the food security and sustainability programs currently in place. The Think & Eat Green @ School community partners, including Growing Chefs (http://www.growingchefs.ca/) and Sustainable Opportuni-ties for Youth Leadership (SOYL), can help the teachers and administrators at Sir William Van Horne work to incorporate food security and sustainabil-ity into the curriculum and enhance the existing garden and healthy eating and food preparation lessons. Additionally there are a number of initiatives through the Think & Eat Green @ School project, such as the Summer Institute and Sustainable Mini Grants, which can provide profes-sional development opportunities, networking opportunities, and funding. Some specific suggestions for the school include providing areas to eat outside near the garden to enhance the eating areas and raise awareness about garden initiatives. Also, we suggest that the school works with local suppliers to find a more consistent source of organic local produce. Also, it seems very important to enhance garden production and work to incor-porate some of the food produced into the lunch program. In general, we recommend that the PAC considers ways to improve the hot lunch program to include more nutritionally and environmentally sustainable food choices.
Addres s :
5855 Ontario Street
Vancouver, BC V5W 2L8
Telephone: (604) 713-4965
Fax: (604) 713-4967
Student Population: ~400
School Contacts:
- Denise Johnson (Principal)
- Patti Plottel (Pr
incipal until Ju
ly 2010)
- Marianne Prins (Teacher)
- Yvette Cassidy (Teach
er)
- Mary Germani (Teacher)
- Dave Miranda (PAC Leader)
Sir William Van Horne Elementary
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Student Activity - Garden Maintenance and Management Plan (LFS 250)
Dates of Visit(s) - Visits took place during the third week of November, 2010.
Methods The undergraduate students completed a Garden Maintenance and Management Plan analysis which involved making maps of the garden area, conducting and analyzing a soil sample, performing a solar analysis, a micro-climate analysis, a water analysis, a circulation analysis (looking at the flow of traffic in and around the garden) and a community analysis, which looks at the strengths and areas for improvement for the support given to the garden from the community.
General Findings It was found that there was little circulation (foot traffic) around the garden, since few students spend time around the garden and usually go to the playground instead. The garden was in a less-than-ideal location for sunlight, as the garden is shielded from sunlight by surrounding buildings. Box one receives the most sunlight, and box four receives the least. The most sun is received during the morning since there are no obstructions to the easterly sky. During winter months when the sun is lower, sunlight decreases dramatically. Some plants were more susceptible to water loss due to their exposure to sun and wind flow.
In May, August, and September, strong wind from the Northwest is partially blocked by the school building, and since temperatures are not particularly
cold, nor is the climate dry, the garden is not particularly affected. Pots closest to the tunnel will likely be the most affected by strong winds coming from the Southeast in April and July. In July, these plants might dry out due to the combination of drier climate and wind exposure. Soil is of good quality, consisting of organic soil with bark compost and sand, plus organic fertilizer.
Recommendations According to conversations between PAC contacts and UBC students, the Parent Advisory Committee has suggested more green space. Parent involvement should therefore be encouraged for garden upkeep. The school could encourage social gathering around garden boxes by installing more benches closer to the garden (currently there are two in the general area of the garden). Moving the SPEC-initiated garden boxes to the other garden area might also help to improve the visual appeal of the space, as well as allowing for more consistent exposure to sunlight. The gravel sports field (which is not often used) is another potential area to which the SPEC garden boxes could be moved. It is also highly recom-mended that interested staff and teachers attend that Think&EatGreen@School Summer Institute, which will greatly facilitate the incorporation of the garden into the school’s curriculum and programming. Please see the end of this report for details. UBC students who performed the water analysis recommend a rain barrel and/or watering cans for more efficient and effective irrigation. More parent volunteer or community involvement is needed to ensure consistent watering throughout summer months. Drought-resistant plants could be planted in the Southeast corners of the plant boxes to help make survival during hotter, drier summer months more likely. A windbreak could also be helpful for protecting this area.
Loam soil would increase plant health and yield. The soil is sufficient, but nitrogen availability needs to be maintained by continuing to plant cover crops. Increased use of the compost system by students is advisable; stu-dents, staff, as well as community partners could be involved in promoting composting at school. Also, the composters could be moved closer to the garden area itself.
Sugar beets, oats, wheat, onions, leeks, chard, parsley, cilantro, cauliflow-ers, brussel sprouts, rhubarb, turnips and kale would be good additions to the garden.
Addres s : 4860 Main St.
Vancouver, BC V5V 3R8
Telephone: 604.713.5245
Student Population: ~215
School Contacts:
- Bruce Adams (Princ
ipal)
- Ernie Wong (Teach
er)
- Norine Colvin (Teach
er)
- Susan Barton (Teach
er)
- CL Chen (PAC Chair)
General Brock Elementary
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Student Activity - Garden Maintenance and Management Plan (LFS 250)School Food Environment Assessment (LFS 250)
Dates of Visit(s) - From July 12, 2010 until August 20, 2010
Methods The undergraduate students completed a Garden Maintenance and Manage-ment Plan analysis which involved making maps of the garden area, conduct-ing and analyzing a soil sample, performing a solar analysis, a micro-climate analysis, a water analysis, a circulation analysis (looking at the flow of traffic in and around the garden) and a community analysis, which looks at the strengths and areas for improvement for the support given to the garden from the community. The methods used for data collection in the School Food Environment Assess-ment included informal interviews with various stakeholders and field observa-tion/notes. The questions asked during the interview included: “Does your administration support healthy eating? How?” and “Does your school have or follow any written policies that promote healthy eating?” The interviewed stakeholders included the principal, vice-principal, three teachers, and two lunch supervision aids. The observations took place throughout the day and included observation during lunchtime for both the kindergarten students, who eat separately, and the older children.
General Findings UBC student assessors noted that the organic food/herb garden at Queen Elizabeth consists of several outdoor boxes, and that there are some learning opportunities associated with these gardens. There is the potential for develop-ing a garden plot in addition to the boxes, but irrigation could be an issue since hoses are difficult to haul. Adults would have to be responsible for watering unless alternatives could be developed. Also, there are plans plant fruit trees
(apple/plum), berries, kiwis and grape vines. An issue to keep in mind is pending construction around the portable schoolrooms. There is a Green School program for teachers, and potentially the teachers from the adjoining Jules Quesnel School could become involved in that as well. However, it was found that there is not always consensus on what ‘healthy living’ entails, so there is room for increased connections and collaborations between initiatives and projects. The school participates in the BC Fruit and Vegetable Snack Program. Parents and Kindergardeners maintain the garden over the summers. Compost receptacles are present, but not in use. Soil from the prospective garden plot has a sandy loam texture. Water taps are far from the prospective garden area, and hoses are becoming worn out. There may be excessive water in the depressed garden area, and this also creates limited opportunities for seating, so that students could be encouraged to sit and enjoy the garden. During summer, the garden received sunlight from 7:30 – 18:00, and during fall at noon. There is one main footpath to the garden, and minimal risk of children stepping on or damaging plants. Wind protection is provided by portable classrooms and the tree line.
Addres s : 4102 West 16th Avenue
Vancouver, BC V6R 3E3
Website: http://quee
nelizabeth.vsb.bc.c
a/
Student Population: ~ 402
School Contacts:
- Donna Procter (Principa
l)
- Natasha Tousaw (Teache
r, Garden
Coordinator)
- Jane Taylor (PAC Chair)
Queen Elizabeth Elementary
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REQUESTS FOR PROPOSALS Become a
Think&EatGreen School The Think&EatGreen@School Project is a Community-University Research Alliance promoting change in what public school students eat, learn and do at school in relation to food, health and the environment. The project aims to engage students with the sources of their food through growing, preparing, sharing and managing food waste at school. Think&EatGreen@School aims to foster food citizenship by providing the entire community of learners—from students to professors, teachers to chefs, farmers, gardeners, restaurateurs, and nutrition and health profes-sionals— with opportunities to participate in the development of healthy and sustainable school food systems. Your school can participate by becoming a “Think&EatGreen School” and receive a grant of up to $2,000 and other support to implement food initiatives at your school.
The Public Health Association of BC (PHABC), a key community partner in the Think&EatGreen@School Project, has also secured funds from Vancity enviroFund to support Farm to School programs. The goal of PHABC’s Farm to School initiative is to increase access to fresh, nutritious, locally-grown foods on school premises and to build the local food economy. First, a relationship is developed between a school and local farmers. The farmers then grow and harvest food to sell to the school where it is prepared and dished up to students. Additional opportunities for farmers to share their knowledge of food and agriculture with students, staff and volunteers are created. PHABC seeks to bring the “Farm” into Think&EatGreen Schools. We are asking applicants demonstrate an appreciation of local farms, local foods and local food systems by integrating these concepts into their proposed Think&EatGreen@School program. Minimally applicants must commit to providing local and sustainably produced foods in a school lunch program. PHABC will provide an additional $1,500 and other supports for this purpose.
This application has several opportunities for interested schools:
1. Application to be a Think&EatGreen School and receive a grant of up to $2,000
2. Additional application to bring the “farm” into your Think&EatGreen School to receive an additional $1,500 Farm to School grant
3. Enrolment in the Think&EatGreen@School Summer Institute on July 4-6, 2011
1. Application to be a Think&EatGreen School Benefits of Participation Ability to receive up to $3,500 for food system projects (through
Think&EatGreen@School Small Grants and Farm to School funds); Participation in a cohort / community of learners aiming at creating
a healthy and sustainable food system within the Vancouver School Board;
Participation in professional development opportunities including the Think&EatGreen@School Summer Institute;
Access to community and UBC expertise; Support of UBC students to implement your projects.
Criteria to be a Think&EatGreen School Preference will be given to schools that can demonstrate the following:
A working team of 3 or more, composed of teachers and staff com-mitted to strengthening the connections within the food system at their school (teachers, administration, support staff, food service staff, maintenance staff, students and parents may be included);
A commitment to initiatives that ‘close the food loop’ by seeking to make connections between different aspects of the food system (i.e. growing, preparing, sharing and managing waste) at school;
Participation of a team in the Think&EatGreen@School Summer Institute in July;
Partnerships (with community-based organizations and/or other schools);
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Willingness to involve UBC students and facilitate their involvement in the development of food system activities and projects at your school;
Willingness to participate in research aimed at developing a healthy and sustainable school food system;
Commitment to participate in the project for 2 years.
It is understood that no one school may meet all of the criteria; however, appli-cations that demonstrate that they are able to satisfy as many of the above points as possible will be given priority. Applications with large teams and pro-jects that emphasize integration within the food system will be eligible for larger grants (up to $2,000). Applications that are smaller in scope will be eligible for smaller grants.
Eligible for Think&EatGreen@School Small Grants (up to $2,000) Think&EatGreen@School has set aside $20,000 from the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRCC) for supporting small projects in Vancouver schools in the 2011-2012 school year. If you are eligible, these small grants are available to help you start-up, expand, or improve school projects in the areas of food production, waste management, food preparation, and teaching and learning activities.
Some possible projects could include:
Food production including gardens and orchards. Composting and other waste management projects. Cooking and other culinary / food preparation activities involving
students. Teaching and learning that connect food, health, and the environment
across the curriculum. Projects that establish links between growing, preparing and eating food
at school with new curriculum and ways of teaching and learning. Programs that provide healthy and sustainable foods for students.
Projects that establish links between schools and farms for healthier school meal programs and cafeteria menus and learning opportuni-ties.
Release time for teachers and staff to collaborate, develop and implement proposed activities
Celebrations around food (e.g. a food day or food week at school).
Artistic projects related to food systems issues (including videos, multi-media, painting, music, theatres).
To apply Please send an email to [email protected] to let us know that you are planning to apply. When the following application form is complete, email or mail it to: Mailing Address: Application: Think&EatGreen@School MCML 179 - 2357 Main Mall Vancouver, B.C., V6T 1Z4 Email: [email protected]
All applications must be received no later than May 13. Schools will be notified about their application by the end of May. Further questions or inquiries can be directed to [email protected].
2. Additional Application to Bring the “Farm” into your Think&EatGreen School Additional Benefits of Participation in Farm to School Additional $1,500 grant; Support from a farm liaison to provide connections for purchases of
foods from local farms and farm field trips; Spring training session with farmers, chefs, evaluation consultants,
etc. to help start the program; Registration at a Farm-to-You conference in November; Program evaluation and support; Education materials and tools for teachers and farmers;
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Membership and participation in a supportive Farm to School net-work with links to others Farm to School leads.
Additional Criteria for Participation in Farm to School Preference will be given to schools that can demonstrate the following: Increases the amount of local food served in schools by 15% or
more; Ability to integrate connections to farms and the food system into
the classroom and school environment; Supports at least one local farm; Ensures the lunch is offered minimally 24 times before the end of the
2011/12 school year; and 40 times in 2012/13; Is environmentally friendly (e.g. reuse of materials, waste reduction,
recycling, composting); Ensures equitable access to all children in the school, regardless of
means.
Eligible For Farm to School Grant Funding has been received through Vancity enviroFund to support programs in Vancouver, Richmond and West Vancouver and 3 enthusiastic schools in Vancouver are now being sought to participate.
Kitchen equipment (e.g. food processors, soup pots, dishes, serving spoons, knives, soap and towel dispensers, etc).
Honorariums for coordination and/or costs related to volunteer appreciation.
Educational Resources or costs, including farm field trips +/- farm honoraria, teaching resources, etc.
Food costs for the initial start up week or food for taste tests. Training, including Food Safe training.
The funds cannot be used for: Ongoing food costs. Experience has demonstrated that Farm to
School lunches can generate funds! Ongoing coordination costs;
To apply Please ensure the following application form is complete and then email it or mail it to:
Mailing Address: Application: Think&EatGreen@School MCML 179 - 2357 Main Mall Vancouver, B.C., V6T 1Z4 Email: [email protected].
All applications must be received no later than May 13. Schools will be notified about their application by the end of May. Please note that an offer of participation in this Farm to School initiative will be contingent upon a site visit by the Selection Committee. Further questions or inquiries specifically related to Farm to School can be directed to [email protected].
3. Participation in the Summer Institute The Think&EatGreen@School Summer Institute will focus on food security and sustainability issues in collaboration and partnership with teachers, administrators, staff and students from Vancouver School Board schools. The Institute is aimed at finding collaborative solutions to increase the knowledge and understanding of the connections between food, health and the environment across the food system in the schools. A combination of plenaries and streamed workshops and activities will be relevant to both elementary and secondary schools and curriculums. Workshops and activi-ties will focus on different components of the school food system: including food gardens and orchards; composting and waste management; food procurement, preparation and consumption; curriculum and pedagogical innovations; and school food policies. The Summer Institute will be held at the first week of July, from Monday, July 4th to Wednesday, July 6th. Workshops and hands-on, experiential activities over three days at UBC will follow the different components of the food cycle at school, including making connections to curriculum and pedagogy as well as school food policy. Participants will rotate through different themes including:
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Hands in the Soil: Food production and composting. Cooking and Eating Together: Food preparation and consumption. Connections to the Classroom: Integration of the food cycle into
curriculum and action plans.
To apply The registration form can be found on the Vancouver School Board website, under ‘Sustainability’ on the Professional Development Current Opportunities page, or directly at:
http://www2.vsb.bc.ca/vsbprograms/prod/register.htm?page=workshopdetails&workshopid=1238
Public Health Associa on of BC
The Think & Eat @ School Project is supported by a Strategic Research Grant on the Environment from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada's CURA Program.
Partners:
Full report available at: http://www.thinkeatgreen.ca/2010-2011
University of British Columbia
Faculty of Land and Food Systems
107-2357 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC Canada V6T 1Z4
Tel: 604 731 3146
Email: [email protected] Web: www.thinkeatgreen.ca
The Think & Eat Green @ School project will be a success when (many)
schools embrace an explicit orientation toward human and environmental
health and food system sustainability.
The objective of the project is to contribute to regional food system sustain-
ability and institutional adaptations to climate change. By working with schools
and a community of learners involved in community-based and school-based
projects, we will develop healthy, sustainable school food systems that include:
√ Food and environment education across the curriculum
√ School gardens that produce food to be consumed in schools
√ Functioning food waste compost and recycling systems
√ Food programs that provide safe, healthy, and sustainable food for
students
Main activities:
Working with the most accomplished teachers, community gardeners,
urban agriculturalists, chefs, restaurateurs, restaurant designers and
builders in Vancouver school communities & partnering with teachers,
students and parents.
Involving over 300 UBC undergraduate and graduate students per year in
the next five years to collaborate on school specific projects and collect
data regarding school programs and policies, teachers’ practices, and
students’ knowledge, attitudes and behaviours.
Collaborating with more than 25 co-investigators from a wide range of
disciplines and community-based food, environment, health & educa-
tion organizations. Using their experience, expertise, and existing
community connections to enhance, deepen, and support existing and
future food system sustainability projects.
AAACTCTCT LLLOCALLYOCALLYOCALLY
The Think & Eat Green @ School project comprises a wide range of
partners, described in five general categories:
- Local community-based organizations that focus on food security,
sustainability, and related issues, including the Environmental Youth Alliance,
Farm Folk/City Folk, Growing Chefs, and the Society for the Promotion of
Environmental Conservation.
- Permanent city-wide organizations and bodies, involved in governance,
service delivery and policy-making, including the Vancouver School Board, the
Vancouver Food Policy Council, and Vancouver Coastal Health;
- Provincial or national community-based organizations, including the
Public Health Association of British Columbia, Canadian Centre for Policy
Alternatives, and the Evergreen Foundation;
- Individual city schools — 21 in the first iteration of the project in the Fall 2010
and 23 schools by the end of Spring 2011;
- University-based partners, including UBC, Simon Fraser University, and
Ryerson University (including their multiple units). At UBC, partners include the
Faculties of Community and Regional Planning, Education, Landscape Architec-
ture, Land and Food Systems, and the UBC Farm.
With the financial support:
www.thinkeatgreen.ca
TTTHINKHINKHINK & E& E& EATATAT GGGREENREENREEN @ S@ S@ SCHOOLCHOOLCHOOL
T hink & Eat Green @ School is a Community-University Research
Alliance promoting change in what children eat, learn and do at
school in relation to food, health, the environment, and sustain-
ability. By working closely with school authorities, teachers, parents, and youth, the
project aims to reconnect students with the sources of their food.
The Think & Eat Green @ School Project builds on concepts of food system
sustainability, recognizing that the ways food is produced, processed, packaged,
transported, consumed, and disposed of have significant impact on greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions and our ecological footprint. The project also encompasses the
concept of food security, emphasizing that to achieve food security, all six of the
following components must be present:
1. Availability of enough safe and nutritious food for a given population;
2. Affordability, making it possible for all people to satisfy their food needs
within their purchasing power;
3. Accessibility of food or the ease with which a population may obtain
available food; and
4. Acceptability and use of food, or meeting cultural and culinary needs,
including having skills to properly utilize food;
5. Safety, meaning that the food supply meets the sanitary standards of
Canada;
6. Sustainability, meaning that the food system does not damage the
capacity of ecosystems to endure and support the permanent production
and reproduction of food sources and the stability of food supply over time.
Approximately 45% of food consumed in
BC is imported. Climate change and other
global issues therefore affect the food
system sustainability of BC communities.
Think & Eat Green @ School addresses food system sustainability by
enabling staff and students to influence how their food is produced and where it
comes from, through concrete school projects in areas of:
Food production at school (i.e. food gardens, composting and disposal
of end products);
Food consumption, preparation and procurement at school (i.e. school
food programs and eating spaces);
Curriculum (teaching and learning) innovations aiming at integrated
learning on the whole cycle of food systems, from production,
processing, transportation, distribution, consumption, and disposal of
end food products (i.e. composting and recycling vs. “waste”);
Food policy and institutional adaptation to climate change (policy and
programs to support more healthy and sustainable food systems).
These concrete school projects involve collaborative learning amongst a multi-
tude of players, from university students and researchers, health and educational
institutions to a network of community-based and community-supported non-
profit organizations working on food, health, and the environment, linking farms
to schools, city dwellers with farmers, school cooks with successful green chefs,
restaurateurs, restaurant designers, gardeners, school authorities, teachers and
students.
Schools are places where children can learn about the food system by being
engaged in growing, harvesting, preparing, cooking and eating food. Schools can
significantly contribute to the greening of their communities and neighbour-
hoods through the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and to the light-
ening of its ecological footprint.
Think & Eat Green @ School provides opportunities for students and staff at
all levels to reconnect with the sources of their food and to see food as the grand
connector of all aspects of human life, including our relationships with each other
and with nature.
Think & Eat Green @ School fosters food citizenship by providing the entire
community of learners—from pupils to professors, teachers to chefs, farmers,
gardeners, restaurateurs, and nutrition and health professionals—with opportu-
nities to be involved in all aspects of the food system to learn how to participate
in decisions that shape the food system of public schools and educational institu-
tions, and by extension, the food system of the local communities and the City of
Vancouver.
Think & Eat Green @ School addresses the question of how the hundreds of
thousands of people that comprise complex institutions, such as the public school
system, can participate in a process of social learning, creation and action to
influence the food system and contribute to a transition to sustainability.
Learning and acting to address global problems at the local level is where ordinary
people can make a direct difference.
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