Communal Gardening

Reading through an article on school gardens and food security, I was led to some tips for communal gardening. It got me thinking about how schools and their neighbourhood could get together for the benefit of the whole community to raise awareness of food as a health issue as well as food as a means for community security.School gardens have the ability therefore to increase the relevance and quality of education for rural and urban children through active learning and through introduction of agriculture and nutrition.

In order for children to grow up and become healthy citizens with secure livelihoods, one of the urgent needs is to enable children to stay in school and to acquire knowledge and skills which are relevant to their lives and environment. Learning how to prepare a garden to produce vegetables, fruits and other foods; conserving

water and other natural resources; planting, processing and preparing foods for optimal nutritional value

Nutrition education is essential for ensuring effective linkages between garden food availability and consumption. Schools can provide workshops for the local community on gardening and nutritional education for the local neighbourhood. This could be incorporated into the local PRO grants, where the Ministry of Education provides grants for increasing parental capacity in schools.

The article mentions several things relevant to school and community gardening. Some of them I have talked about in other blogs. The author writes about working with people who have some gardening knowledge and also with elders who maybe able to pass on indigenous knowledge of the land and how and what might grow. This may also encourage diversity in what to grow. This is an important point I think, the respect of knowledge is important in maintaining gardens and growing food. Involvement of the local people and their knowledge is of vital importance. The whole community should be encouraged to participate for knowledge to grow. Children need to know where their food comes from. They need to know how it grows, where it grows and why it grows. School communities have such a vital role to play in this. School should not be just about academia. Every child is different and labeling a child who excels in the outdoor classroom, but isn't able to sit behind a desk to learn is wrong.

Many schools have huge yards that are,in the words of one fourth grader, just plain boring. They appear prisonlike, with huge wire fences to prevent escapes. I heard one principal tell me that the 6ft fence they had built is the best thing ever as it improves safety. I just see some sad kids with nothing to do during recess.

http://www.cnisbss.org/Newsline/PDF/LJR_19092007/Building%20on%20traditional%20gardening%20to%20improve(6).pdf