With Healthy Living as one of Aveson's three tenants, first and second graders asked the driving question: “How do people access healthy foods in our community?” At Aveson School of Leaders (ASL) we are fortunate to have fresh and local produce as a part of our school lunch program. But to better understand the bigger picture of nutrition and food availability, our students launched into a series of field trips to further their exploration.
In April, over 100 students journeyed to local Vons supermarkets to see the inner-workings of food delivery, storage, preparation and display. They broke into small groups to shop for healthy meals on a limited budget. Then they boarded busses for a community food bank called Friends in Deed.
Friends in Deed is a local nonprofit that provides monthly food assistance to nearly 200 community members. ASL students donated their Vons purchases to the food bank and toured the agency's pantry to see how clients are able to “shop” for food. The director also explained how a cooperative of local gardeners has started donating organic produce to the pantry.
It was a perfect segue into the students’ next topic of exploration: growing food yourself. After classroom projects introduced life cycles (including chicks from eggs, silkworms, ladybugs, and butterflies) students prepared the school gardens and watched saplings emerge from the seeds they planted. In our drought restricted state, they also learned the value of low-water plants and mulching to better protect the soil. Once student gardens were in place, they struck out into the community again, exploring the Altadena Community Garden (ACG.)
The ACG has won accolades for being one of the best community gardens in all of LA County. Originally a military academy for boys, the 2.5 acres of land in West Altadena was transformed in 1973 to bountiful plots of fruits, vegetables and flowers. Under the guidance of their president, Silvera Grant, ACG hosts UC Master Gardening classes, community picnics, compost give-aways and school tours. Silvera and two of the community gardeners showed our students the highlights of the garden and explained the impact it has on families who do not have garden access of their own. Silvera also stressed the limitations the handicapped community has, and slowed the tour down to study how he created higher raised beds and paved paths that allow every member of our community equal access to participate in gardening.
During these explorations, ASL reached out to Janet Napolitano, president of the University of California system. They have recently launched a global food initiative that focuses on sustainable living and local gardening as a means to end community hunger and teach the broader society how to implement healthy food production at the local level. While too busy to come visit our campus, she wrote an encouraging letter, praising students and advisors for their forward thinking and exploration of the topic. She summarizes by calling them all “just amazing.”
We tend to agree.
Thank you to Lorenzo Oropez, 2nd grade, for his ACG pictures.
