Edible Schoolyard New Orleans
Created in 2006, the Edible Schoolyard New Orleans (ESY NOLA) integrates organic gardening and seasonal cooking into the curricula, culture, and food programs at two public charter schools; Samuel J. Green and Arthur Ashe. ESY NOLA is based on the original Edible Schoolyard founded in Berkeley, California by chef and food education activist Alice Waters.
ESY NOLA provides students with engaging hands-on learning experiences through weekly gardening and cooking classes and school-based seasonal events that promote the food traditions of New Orleans. Students in grades K-8 participate in lessons that reinforce classroom coursework and core subjects (science, social studies, language, and math).
At the Edible Schoolyard, the garden and kitchen are interactive venues where textbook lessons come to life. Through these experiences, students become stewards or our land and natural resources, and discover that teamwork yields genuine benefits in the garden, kitchen, and in life.
ESY NOLA is based on the original Edible Schoolyard located in Berkeley, CA and is the first sanctioned replication of the successful program founded by Alice Waters and the Chez Panisse Foundation. Founded 11 years ago, the Edible Schoolyard at Martin Luther King Middle School in Berkeley, CA has been cited as a national model for educators and hosts thousands of visitors each year.
According to a study by Harvard Medical School cited in The New York Times Magazine “After one year, students at King, compared with a control group at a similar middle school, showed improvement in behavior and had fewer emotional problems. They were savvier about ecology, and their overall grade point averages improved.”
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Edible Schoolyard New Orleans
Samuel J. Green Charter School
2319 Valence Street
New Orleans, 70115
web: http://www.esynola.org/
email: Kelly@esynola.org
phone: (504) 304-3595
