Running

head: Edible Education

Edible Education Health Initiatives

Megan Weber
Loyola Marymount University

Running head: Edible Education

The physical and emotional health of an entire generation and the economic health and
security of our nation is at stake.
- First Lady Michelle Obama
Description of Issue
Public schools in the United States must abide by federal and state laws and standards
governing nutrition and health in our schools. One such institution that implements such laws is
the United States Department of Agriculture, or USDA. According to the USDA, over the past
three decades, childhood obesity rates have tripled, and currently nearly one in three children in
America are overweight or obese. The numbers are even higher in African American and
Hispanic communities, where nearly 40% of the children are overweight or obese. This has a
direct correlation with leading to other health-related issues, such as diabetes, heart disease, highblood pressure, and asthma (Lets Move, 2015). Further, the Center for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) states: The percentage of children aged 611 years in the United States who
were obese increased from 7% in 1980 to nearly 18% in 2012. Similarly, the percentage of
adolescents aged 1219 years who were obese increased from 5% to nearly 21% over the same
period (Adolescent and School Health, 2014). The United States Census Bureau (Pop1 Child
Population, 2013) calculated a projected population that there are approximately 23 million
children age 6-11 in the United States today, and 22.7 million children age 12-17. That means
that nearly 4 million children age 6-11 in the United States today are obese and nearly 5 million
children age 12-17 are obese. Subjectively or objectively, those numbers are quite large and
alarming.
The USDA further provides an argument that children who are obese or overweight often
undergo psychological stress of social stigmatization, as these children can become targets of
early social discrimination. This stigmatization can cause low self-esteem, which in turn, can

Running head: Edible Education

hinder academic and social functioning, and persist into adulthood (Lets Move, 2015). A
study published in 2012 by the BMC Psychiatry Journal aimed to examine body dissatisfaction
and its relationship with body mass, as well as self-esteem and eating habits, in girls and boys in
transition from early to mid-adolescence. School nurses recorded the heights and weights of 659
girls and 711 boys with a mean age of 14.5 years. The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and the
Body Dissatisfaction subscale of the Eating Disorder Inventory were used as self-appraisal
scales. Eating data were self-reported. They concluded that body mass, self-esteem and eating
habits revealed a significant relationship with body dissatisfaction in the transitional phase from
early to mid-adolescence in girls and boys (Body dissatisfaction and body mass, Mkinen,
Puukko-Viertomies, Lindberg, Siimes, Aalberg, 2012). Similar studies have been conducted to
show the correlation between body weight and self-esteem, which further suggests the need to
improve the health among children in the United States.
In the following pages, I will propose a possible solution to such problems that can be
implemented into the Pasadena Unified School Districts curriculum and lesson planning. This
program is called Edible Education, or the Edible Schoolyard Project. The Edible Education
programs mission is: To build and share a national edible education curriculum for prekindergarten through high school. We envision gardens and kitchens as interactive classrooms
for all academic subjects, and a free, nutritious, organic lunch for every student. Integrating this
curriculum into schools can transform the health and values of every child in America (Our
Work, 2015). This project will be elaborated upon in later sections of the proposal.
Demographic Characteristics of Pasadena Unified School District
a.) Student Enrollment and b.) Number of Schools

Running head: Edible Education

Among the sixteen elementary schools and the three schools labeled as Other Schools of
Attendance within the Elementary School umbrella (which include Don Benito, Focus Point,
and Norma Coombs), there are a total of 9,028 students enrolled among the Pasadena Unified
elementary schools. Among the six secondary schools and three other schools under the
secondary umbrella, there are 4,034 students in attendance. Among the three high schools and
five other schools under the high school umbrella, there are 5,439 students in attendance
(District Directory Information, 2014).
c.) Student Socioeconomic Status
The total number of students eligible for a free or reduced lunch based on Socioeconomic Status
was 4,586 in 2011-2012, but only 1,013 students participated through Title I funding (Student
Support Programs, 2012).
d.) Current Curricular Programs
Curricular Programs include Dual-Immersion Programs, curricular programs for English
Language Learners, Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) programs, Individualized Education
Programs (IEPs) and support, afterschool support and eligibility for free supplemental education
services through PasadenaLEARNS, Universal Preschool Program, and more.
e.) Other Relevant Data
The total population of students under 18 in the Pasadena Unified School District is 46,850.
Among that number, 19,520 are Hispanic or Latino, and 27,330 are non-Hispanic or Latino. The
population of one race is 42,792. Among that population, 20,766 are Caucasian, 9,404 are Black
or African American, 398 are American Indian or Alaska Native, 2,700 are Asian, 38 are
Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and 9,486 are of some other race alone. There are 4,058 students of
two or more races. (Direct Directory Information, 2014). Stated above, it is noted that 40% of

Running head: Edible Education

children in Hispanic or African American communities are obese. This number is quite
significant in regards to the high number of Hispanic or Latino students in the Pasadena Unified
School District.
Current Research and Curriculum Theory
Similar projects implemented in other school districts have yielded positive results. In a
study published in the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology,
the authors studied the nutrition education and promotion component of the Shaping Healthy
Choices Program (SHCP), which included classroom education, garden-based learning, and
cooking demonstrations in fourth-grade classrooms in Northern and Central California.
Discovering Healthy Choices (DHC), a learner-centered, garden-based nutrition curriculum, was
developed by SHCP, and this curriculum abided by Common Core State Standards. Their
findings indicated that implementing such a curriculum allowed students to have significant
improvements to their nutrition knowledge (Linnell et. al., 2014). Many students do not
understand how the food they eat is grown and processed; it is often detached knowledge that
students are removed from. They take for granted the processes and care that go into bringing
food from the farm to their table, and such a curriculum will close the learning gap in this regard.
The Center for Ecoliteracy is a nonprofit that advances ecological education in K12
schools. Their mission statement states that they recognize that students need to experience and
understand how nature sustains life and how to live accordingly. In a document provided by the
Center for Ecoliteracy to promote healthy nutrition in schools, the Center states six main reasons
that school boards and administrators should care about school meals. One such reason is that:
Nutrition is strongly linked to academic achievement Students, on average, consume about 35
percent of their daily calories at school. Many consume half or more of their calories at school

Running head: Edible Education

(Making the Case, 2014). Another reason is: School meals are especially critical for many
students. In 2012, 49 million Americans, including 15.9 million children, lived in food insecure
households. One out of five households with children reported food insecurity. Some schools are
now serving breakfast, lunch, afternoon snacks, milk supplements, and dinner, and sending home
backpacks with food for weekends (Making the Case, 2014). These statistics show an
alarming need for nutritional options for students in schools if they are not receiving healthy
options at home. The Center for Ecoliteracy also works in partnership with the Edible Education
program in promoting nutrition education in schools.
In the Journal of Environmental Education, a study was published in 2012 titled Intrinsic
Motivation and Engagement as Active Ingredients in Garden-Based Education: Examining
Models and Measures Derived From Self-Determination Theory. This study built upon the selfdetermination theory1, and explored the motivational processes in garden-based learning,
particularly among middle school students. They found that, students perceived autonomy,
competence, and intrinsic motivation uniquely predicted their engagement in the garden, which
in turn, predicted learning in the gardens and achievement in school (Intrinsic motivation and
engagement, 2012). Essentially, creating a garden-based curriculum in which students were
able to feel an internal sense of motivation to tend to the garden and a sense of pride for growing
their own food led to higher academic achievement in school, as students took initiative in
learning about nutrition and health. They learned by doing, engaged in discovery-based, or
hands-on, learning.
Discovery-based learning is in fact an essential component of the classical educational
theorist Maria Montessoris curriculum theory. Montessori believed that children teach

1 Self-determination theory is a theory of motivation. It is concerned with supporting our natural or intrinsic
tendencies to behave in effective and healthy ways.
(Self-determination theory, n.d.)

Running head: Edible Education

themselves. She was also a huge proponent of the careful planning of a childs environment, in
that it should be carefully thought out with appropriate manipulatives and isolated objects so that
the child can manipulate and explore his or her environment. She believed in a hands-on
approach to teaching and learning, and that a child can construct meaning by learning from what
is placed in his or her environment with a balanced amount of freedom and self-discipline. In her
essay A Critical Consideration of the New Pedagogy, Montessori writes: The school must
permit the free, natural manifestations of the child if in the school scientific pedagogy is to be
born. This is the essential reform (Montessori, 1912, p.25). Montessoris theories and practical
implementations of discovery-based learning provide a basis for classical theory supporting the
Edible Education curriculum.
Another classical curriculum theorist that supports the need for such discovery-based
learning methods in schools is Franklin Bobbit. He postulated that an education should have a
basis in practicality for students and relate to the real-world. Bobbit also asserted that
education must develop out of the living experiences of men. In his essay Scientific Method in
Curriculum-Making, he states: It must, therefore, train thought and judgment in connection with
actual life-situations (Bobbit, 1918, p.11). Students ability to connect what they learn in the
classroom to their life experiences away from school is essential to learning. Bobbits theories
about relating curriculum to practical needs in the current political and social sphere of the world
in which our children are being raised further supports the Edible Education curriculum.
Conceptual Framework
There are many valuable reasons to establish such a project in the Pasadena Unified
School District. These are listed in order of importance as follows:

Running head: Edible Education

1.) Changes to the curriculum must be established within the school district. Establishing an
ecoliteracy curriculum into the districts standards is something that the Center for
Ecoliteracy deemed greening the curriculum. The steps to complete such a project will
be elaborated on below in the project proposal. This curriculum also follows Common
Core standards, and the recently accepted Next Generation science standards, particularly
in regards to making the curriculum comprehensible to students using expository text and
discovery-based methods of teaching and learning.
2.) On February 1, 2013, the USDA issued proposed federal standards governing all
competitive foods and beverages that are sold in schools participating in the federal child
nutrition programs. The proposed rule, which was mandated by the Healthy, HungerFree Kids Act of 2010, requires that competitive foods must: (1) be either a fruit, a
vegetable, a dairy product, a protein food, a whole grain rich grain product (50% or
more whole grains by weight or have whole grains as the first ingredient), or a
combination food that contains at least 1/4 cup of fruit or vegetable; or (2) contain 10%
of the Daily Value (DV) of a nutrient cited as a public health concern in the 2010 Dietary
Guidelines for Americans (DGA) (calcium, potassium, vitamin D, or fiber). Additionally,
foods sold must meet a range of calorie and nutrient requirements, (Bassler, Chriqui,
Stagg, Schneider, Infusino, & Asada, 2013, p.9). Thus, law regulates that we must
provide healthy options for our children in school lunches, the benefits of which can be
incorporated into a school wide nutritional curriculum. Providing healthier options to
children at school may help to reduce the number of overweight or obese children at
school as well.

Running head: Edible Education

3.) Developing an edible garden at a schools campus allows for the aesthetic beautification
of the schoolyard. Children spend approximately 29% of their day during the week at
school, and approximately 58% of their waking hours at school on a weekday, assuming
children are awake for 12 hours a day, give or take. Why would a school not have an
aesthetically pleasing environment for children if they are spending more than half of
their waking hours at school?
4.) A garden-based education allows students an alternative way to play that allows children
perceived autonomy throughout the school day. This has led to an increase in intrinsic
motivation and a childs academic achievement, per the study mentioned above.
Description of Participants
The school in which this program will be implemented is Jefferson Elementary School, in
Pasadena, California. This school falls under one of the elementary schools in the Pasadena
Unified School District. The school is a midsize K-5 school located in an urban environment.
There are 17 teachers and 471 total students, so the student/teacher ratio is 26.91. The
majority of the school is of Hispanic ethnicity; in fact, 404 of the 471 students are Hispanic.
Then, 28 students are African American, 21 students are Caucasian, 11 students are two or
more races, and 7 are Asian or Pacific Islander (National Center for Education Statistics,
2013). In terms of subgroup enrollment, 60% of the total number of students at Jefferson
Elementary are English Learners, 85% are identified as Socioeconomically Disadvantaged,
and 6% of students have a documented disability. The school is Title I funded.
This school has been chosen for the Edible Education project because of the high number
of socioeconomically disadvantaged students, the need for campus beautification, and due to

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the fact that the school did not meet their Schoolwide Growth Target under California
Academic Performance Index (API) (School Quality Snapshot, 2013).
Resources
The primary resource required for the initial implementation of the project is fiscal
resources provided by the district and potential donors to build the garden. Based upon a model
implemented by the Education Outside Organization, the first step in developing such a project
in ones school is to develop a Garden Committee, perhaps among interested staff and parents at
the school. This committee will be able to locate skilled parents, such as grant writers,
carpenters, and landscapers, who may be able to provide skilled labor for a reduced cost. The
committee can also begin an annual fund to build and maintain a school garden at Jefferson
Elementary. A landscaper can provide a proposed estimate that the garden will cost to build,
what resources will be necessary to build such a garden, such as recycled wood, and what
bedding is necessary for particular plants. This fiscal amount should be expected to range
between $8,000-20,000 based on materials used, size of the garden, and labor costs (School
Garden Wizard, n.d.).
The fiscal budget for establishing and maintaining a school garden is estimated by the
Education Outside Organization, as follows. The first cost is hiring a garden educator, which is
often a part-time position that solidifies the garden program into an integrated whole. The
potential salary for this coordinator is suggested to be $15,000. Other annual costs include tool
replacement ($200), cooking supplies ($100), and classroom supplies ($100 per classroom, so
$1,900). Other costs that are necessary every other year include garden repairs ($500),
infrastructure improvements ($1000-$5000), and professional development for garden

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coordinator and teachers ($1500). The total estimated minimum amount for all of these potential
costs is $28,200 (How to Grow a School Garden, n.d.)
Human resources are of integral importance to establish and maintain such a program.
Labor for the garden is free, as students are responsible for doing the weeding, mulching,
watering, composting, and harvesting. When more skilled labor is required, parent volunteers or
the garden coordinator can assist. However, teachers and staff should be trained in how to
integrate a garden-based curriculum into their lessons and contained classroom environments,
which can be done at professional development seminars. Also, school cooks should be trained
to change their dietary nutritional food options to include some of the organically produced food
the students grow. One such way to train teachers and staff is through The Edible Schoolyard
Projects annual Schoolyard Academy, which invites teachers, administrators, and other
advocates of the Edible Education program to learn how to implement and maintain such a
program at their school site. This professional development seminar is held in June each year and
costs $650 per person. Participants learn about curriculum integration, funding strategies, and
other leadership strategies to develop a garden-based curriculum at their school-site.
Proposed Project
The proposed project is to develop an Edible Schoolyard at Jefferson Elementary School
in Pasadena, California. This will be a sizable organic garden and kitchen classroom for urban
public school students with a garden-based curriculum, funded by the Pasadena Unified School
District, possible grants, and possibly the Edible Schoolyard Project. At Edible Schoolyard
(ESY) Jefferson, students will participate in all aspects of growing, harvesting, and preparing
nutritious, seasonal produce during the academic day and in after-school classes. Students
hands-on experience in the kitchen and garden fosters a deeper appreciation of how the natural

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world sustains us and promotes the environmental and social well being of the school
community. The ESY program will be fully integrated into the fabric of the school. Lessons in
the kitchen and garden classrooms will bring academic subjects to life and will cultivate an
appetite for fresh, healthy food, as well as the confidence to prepare it at home (The Edible
Schoolyard Berkeley, 2015).
The ESY garden and kitchen is an experiential learning classroom where students will
accompany their teachers to experience culture, history, language, chemistry, and geography
through the preparation of food. Students will cook together with produce just harvested from the
garden and eat a freshly prepared dish, sharing the fruits of their labor around a communal table.
As they harvest, cook, and eat their way through the school year, students experience lessons that
support academic learning in the classroom. The curriculum is designed of lessons to meet a
specific set of edible education learning goals (ESY standards), which also meet Common Core
Standards and Next Generation Science standards. The goal of the ESY curriculum is to
empower students with the knowledge and values to make food choices that are healthy for them,
their communities, and the environment. These lessons can be found on the Edible Education
website, and can be modified to fit each individual teachers strengths, interests, and current
lesson plans in the classroom (The Edible Schoolyard Berkeley, 2015).
Family Nights Out at the Edible Schoolyard Jefferson will provide an opportunity for the
whole family to experience what students are learning in the kitchen classroom. Its also a
chance for families to meet and connect with others in their school community. During a Family
Nights Out class, students and their family members cook and eat a meal together while sharing
and learning new recipes and techniques for preparing healthy meals at home (The Edible

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Schoolyard Berkeley, 2015). Parents will also be aware of the ESY Jefferson through a regular
garden newsletter or email update sent out to parents and staff.
Each summer, summer school classes will be offered to students to help maintain the
garden throughout the summer, and to expand more deeply upon previously learned gardening,
cooking, and nutrition concepts (The Edible Schoolyard Berkeley, 2015)
Implications
This project can only be possible with parent support and involvement, and thus one
major implication of implementing such a project is that parent involvement will be low or not
supportive of such a project. Jefferson Elementary School has 85% of students identified as
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged. This could indicate that parents do not have resources or time
to donate to help fund and maintain such a project at the school. The committee to implement
and maintain such a project will be composed of parents and school staff alike; thus, if parents do
not have time or interest in being involved on such a committee, the project will not be able to be
successful. The parents are also partially responsible for capturing their childrens excitement
about healthy food options and gardening, and this will not be possible without parent support of
the program.
Further, fiscal resources are of utmost importance when completing such a project.
Building and maintaining a garden at Jefferson Elementary can be an expensive task, and is not
possible without fiscal support from the district as well as exoteric donors. Time will need to be
taken to appeal to local and state politicians about fiscal funding, as well as to write grants to
donors to inquire about financial funding for the success of the project.
Timeline for Implementation

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May: - (Assuming funding has already been acquired) Hire a Garden Coordinator to begin
planning, budgeting, and implementing cross-curricular lesson ideas and activities for the
following school year.
June: Teacher and staff professional development to learn how to develop a garden-based
curriculum for the following school year; this training of some staff members (the Garden
Coordinator, and perhaps one or two other teachers or administrators) can occur at ESY
Berkeley.
July-August: - Build a garden in the schoolyard and acquire necessary tools and resources.
August-September: -Establish a Garden Committee; get parents involved.
- Host educative nights to make parents aware of the new curriculum.
- Train other teachers and staff on the edible education curriculum and implementation.
September-June:
- Keep teachers accountable for submitting lesson plans or ideas to demonstrate how they are
implementing a garden-based curriculum into their classrooms. Give teachers support where
needed.
- Show administrators progress as to how the curriculum is valuable, using formative and
summative measures.
- Schedule supervised days and times in which each class will be responsible for tending the
garden.
- Write a regular garden newsletter or e-mail update to send to parents and staff.
- Host fun, routine garden meetings for your garden committee volunteers.
- Host Family Nights Out once a trimester (three times a year).
- Post notices about events, volunteer opportunities, and class projects in school bulletins.
- Establish a routine, easy plan for on-going maintenance, including during the summer months.
- Get an article about the garden in a local newspaper.
- Create and maintain relationships with local businesses.
- Seek out and write grants.
- Hold plant and seed sales and sell them after school and at school events.
- Extend gratitude/acknowledgements. Publicly appreciate volunteers at garden parties.
- Make and maintain a school garden website or blog to post photos and keep parents informed.
- Organize and plan for regular garden workdays for parents and students.

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(How to Grow a School Garden, n.d.)

Obstacles
The major obstacles that exist to successful implementation of this project are lack of
fiscal funds and lack of support or volunteer help. If the Pasadena Unified School District does
not have enough funds to support (or partially support) such a curriculum change, reliance will
be on grants submitted to other organizations, private donors, or to the state and local
government for funding. The grant submission and approval process can be a time-consuming
and perhaps unsuccessful process. Without yearly funding, the garden implementation and
maintenance costs will not be possible.
Further, lack of support primarily by the administration and staff will likely provide a
major obstacle to implementing a curriculum change. If administrators and teachers do not
believe in the benefits of implementing such a curriculum change, the lack of support will likely
negate the entire project. However, it is possible that administration and staff will be in support
but parents will not, as stated above. Parental funding, volunteer hours, and time dedicated to the
Garden Committee are the backbone of this project. Lack of parent support or resources could
lead to an unsuccessful rendering of the project, or a lack of it reaching its full potential.
Further, teachers will be unaccustomed to this mode of curricular planning, and may need
to revise their curricula and lessons several times before becoming confident in the successful
implementation of their garden-based curriculum. They will need to meet and work closely with
other teachers and administrators to check in and evaluate the success of their programs,
perhaps at leveled meetings (by grade). Teachers will need to work closely with the Garden
Coordinator and Garden Committee to establish class-wide projects and routine maintenance of
the garden. Each teacher would need to be able to demonstrate to donors and parents the success
of the garden-based curriculum in their classrooms. However, the project may not be successful

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at an individual level without continuous revision of lessons and curriculum, as well as support
from professionals who understand the successful implementation of such a project. This is why
constant support by administrators as well as professional development is necessary in the initial
implementation of the project.
Formative and Summative Evaluation
Assessment of the garden-based curriculum will be embedded within each lesson based
on the standards. That is, each individual teacher will provide their own means of assessment
based on how they implement the curriculum into their classroom. Likely, formative and
summative assessment will be project-based alternative assessments, such as completing an
experiment, creating and labeling graphic organizers and diagrams, personal reflections, and the
like. Students will also receive immediate feedback when in the garden tending to vegetables and
other plants. Aarti Subramanium, with the University of California Davis and The Center for
Youth Development, writes about garden-based assessment, stating: an activity such as high
school students creating a garden text book for younger children could be a class activity that can
be assessed through student reflections, peer assessment and teacher impressions. The activity is
authentic in its usefulness for the school as well as incorporates meaningful learning of writing
and presentation skills, teamwork, cross-age teaching, creativity, as well as involvement in the
garden program. Assessment activities are more meaningful when they are authentic, that is,
their real purpose is not just for assessments sake (Subramanium, 2003, p.12-13). Thus,
authentic meaningful assessment can occur through careful planning of project-based
assessments for students, perhaps across grade levels.
Further, during the implementation of the program, surveys should be distributed to
teachers, students, and parents, and interviews should be conducted. These types of evaluations

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will include questions such as: Do you see value in having a garden-based curriculum at
Jefferson Elementary? Can you list some ways in which the garden-based curriculum has been
beneficial to you (can be modified to address the teacher in his or her classroom, student, or the
parent reflecting on new curriculum)? Did you enjoy participating in the Edible Education
curriculum? Evaluations such as these will determine the effectiveness of the program, student
and teacher motivation to implement the program, and overall school climate determining
interest or disinterest in the program. Further, it will help administrators better understand how
the process went for students and teachers, and the perceived impact the project had among
participants.
Effects and Policy Implications
Due to the alarming number of children that are obese or overweight in the United States,
as mentioned previously, action needs to be taken to establish healthier lifestyles and eating
habits for children in the United States. The Edible Education project supports both of these
demands; that is, it teaches students about healthier food options while allowing them to be
active in the garden as they tend to the plants themselves. The curriculum further allows for
students to become more self-motivated as they take personal responsibility in caring for the
school garden, in which the vegetables and fruits that students grow will be used in school
lunches. Students feel a perceived autonomy when tending the garden. These reasons allow the
Edible Education program to be a successful project within schools.
Policy and laws at a federal and state level further support the urgency for healthier food
choices in schools. As required by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, the United State
Department of Agriculture has issued new Smart Snacks in Schools nutrition standards for
competitive foods and beverages sold outside of the federal reimbursable school meals program

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during the school day. These standards set limits on calories, salt, sugar, and fat in foods and
beverages and promotes snack foods that have whole grains, low fat dairy, fruits, vegetables or
protein foods as their main ingredients. These standards are the minimum requirement for
schools (Competitive Food in Schools, 2014). Further, the California Department of
Education writes: The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) administers the Fresh
Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) at the federal level. At the state level, the FFVP is
administered by the California Department of Education (CDE), Nutrition Services Division
(NSD). The purpose of this federal assistance program is to provide an additional free fresh fruit
or vegetable snack to students during the school day as a supplement to (and not part of) the
school breakfast and lunch programs, and to teach students about good nutrition (California
Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, 2014). Federal and state policy mandates the requirement
of healthy food options for students in school, so why not go beyond that? The Edible
Schoolyard is a program that allows students to understand and appreciate how food is grown,
take autonomy for helping to create school lunches, and have garden-based projects embedded
into all parts of the curriculum, all while eating nutritiously. As stated by one of the most
quintessential Roman poets, Virgil: the greatest wealth is health (A quote by Virgil). Why
would we not want to provide our children with this great wealth?

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Appendix A: Sample Budget

Jefferson Elementary Garden Budget
Cost of Garden (one time expenditure)----------------------------------------------------- $8000-20,000
Garden Coordinator/Educator (annual)----------------------------------------------------------- $15,000
Tool Replacement (annual)-------------------------------------------------------------------------- $200
Cooking Supplies (annual)--------------------------------------------------------------------------- $100
Classroom Supplies (annual)--------------------------------------------------------------------------$1,900
Garden Repairs (biennial2)--------------------------------------------------------------------- $500
Infrastructure Improvements (biennial)----------------------------------------------$1000-5000
Professional Development (biennial)----------------------------------------------------- $1,500
Total Initial Cost--------------$28,200-$44,200
Total Annual Cost------------$17,200
Total Biennial Cost------$3000-5000

2 Biennial means taking place every other year.

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Appendix B: Edible Education Website

For Resources and Sample for School Promotion
(http://edibleschoolyard.org)

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Appendix C: Sample Surveys

For Evaluation of the Curriculum and Feedback
Teacher Survey
1. Do you see value in having a garden-based curriculum at Jefferson Elementary?
2.

Can you list some ways in which the garden-based curriculum has been beneficial to you
and your students in your classroom?

3. Can you list some challenges in implementing the curriculum or completing gardenbased projects this year?
4. Do you enjoy participating in the Edible Education curriculum?
5. Is there anything else you would like to note?
Student Survey (to be modified per grade level)
1. Do you enjoy participating in the Edible Education curriculum? Why or why not?
2. List some ways that you have learned about healthy eating from the Edible Education
project.
3. Do you feel excited to take care of and grow your own vegetables and fruits at school?
Why or why not?
4. Can you think of projects you would like to do in class based around gardening?
5. Is there anything else you would like us to know about your feelings about Edible
Education?
Parent Survey
1. Do you see value in having a garden-based curriculum at Jefferson Elementary?
2. Does your child seem excited about the Edible Education curriculum?
3. Do you think that your child is benefiting from the garden-based curriculum? Why or
why not?
4. Would you like to learn more about ways you can participate and volunteer at school for
this project?
5. Do you have any other comments, questions, or concerns about the Edible Education
curriculum?

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References
Lets Move. (2015). Retrieved April 8, 2015, from http://www.letsmove.gov/health-problemsand-childhood-obesity
Adolescent and School Health. (2014, December 11). Retrieved April 8, 2015, from
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/obesity/facts.htm
Pop1 Child Population: Number of Children (In Millions) Ages 0-17 in the United States by
Age, 19502013 AND PROJECTED 20142050 (n.d.). Retrieved April 8, 2015, from
http://www.childstats.gov/americaschildren/tables/pop1.asp
Mkinen, M., Puukko-Viertomies, L., Lindberg, N., Siimes, M., & Aalberg, V. (2012). Body
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