After a weekend of walking and tramming around Melbourne, I started my grant project early this Monday morning. I met with Jaqui (senior program officer) and Katie (project manager) at the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden foundation. After months of email, it was awesome to finally put faces to the names and talk in person - sure beats the delays in email responses due to the massive time difference. The two women imparted a wealth of information about the program, the philosophy and the involved schools. It makes me even more excited for tomorrow, which marks my first visit to a SAKG school.
Here's a bit of background on the program: now up and running for nine years, the SAKG program is implemented in 139 schools nationwide, with 45 more to receive funding in the upcoming months. I'll be visiting eight of these schools to get a look at the diversity of the program in terms of garden size and concept, kitchen facilities (one kitchen is converted from an unused boys' bathroom!), funding and student population. The girls at the foundation reinforced my reasons for embarking on this quest...evidence of the success in providing academic opportunities within the garden and kitchen setting is a unique and effective way to reach all students, even "the toughest nuts to crack." A recent program evaluation touted the numerous benefits of the program, but three really stood out for me:
1) school attendance is UP on days that the program is offered
2) behavioral issues DECREASE during kitchen and garden lessons
3) kids are VOLUNTARILY asking for green foods at home!!