History of School gardens

Please take a moment to watch this Youtube video. It tells the story of school gardens in the USA.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N14bTyHH-rA


Gardening in schools can trace their history to 1811 Prussia. In 1869, school gardens in Prussia became law. In the late 1800's and early 1900's gardening in schools began in the USA. During the First World War and subsequent Second World War, garden based learning was identified as a major solution to the social needs of the country. During wartime, the food supply was threatened and several million school children were recruited to grow food for their country in their school gardens. After World War Two, gardening in schools in the USA, declined in favor of the athletic field and technology in education. 


The contemporary impetus to the school garden movement in the United States has largely been influenced by the thoughts of educators, environmentalists, and agricultural reformists. In 1995, the edible school yard was developed by chef Alice Waters, in Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School in Berkeley, California.  The school uses the garden to teach curriculum to the children. You can read more about this project at the link below.


http://www.edibleschoolyard.org/garden