Edible Schoolyard

WARNING! Sewage sludge is toxic. Food should not be grown in "biosolids." Join the Food Rights Network.

Edible Schoolyard (ESY), is "a program of the Chez Panisse Foundation, and also "a one-acre organic garden and kitchen classroom for urban public school students at Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School in Berkeley, California. At ESY, students participate in all aspects of growing, harvesting, and preparing nutritious, seasonal produce. Classroom teachers and Edible Schoolyard educators integrate food systems concepts into the core curriculum. Students’ hands-on experience in the kitchen and garden fosters a deeper appreciation of how the natural world sustains us and promotes the environmental and social well-being of our school community." "Students harvest and prepare produce as part of their garden and kitchen classes. However, produce grown in the garden is not used for school lunch."

Sewage Sludge Industry Gives an 'Award' to Alice Waters and Edible Schoolyard

The major sewage sludge industry front group, US Composting Council, gave Alice Waters and her Chez Panisse Foundation an 'award' in January, 2011. "The H. Clark Gregory Award to Promote Grassroots Efforts in Composting" was awarded to Alice Waters, Chez Panisse Foundation and their Edible Schoolyard program which promotes children growing food from their own gardens. The award is given each year to an individual who has displayed outstanding service." The USCC also sponsors International Compost Awareness Week to promote sewage sludge "compost," and works closely with its members BioCycle magazine, Synagro, Water Environment Federation and other lobbyists for growing food in sewage sludge.

Board

Accessed May 2013:

• Susan Andrews
• Mark Buell, chair
• Greta Caruso
• Troy Duster
• Sherry Hirota
• Christina Kim
• Martin Krasney
• John Lyons
• Alice Waters
• Sally Willcox

Advisory Board

Accessed May 2013:

• Michael Ableman, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Wendell Berry, Kelly Brownell, Peter Buckley, Susie Tompkins Buell, Nancy Rutter Clark, Billy Collins, Eleanor Coppola, Delaine Eastin, Angelo Garro, Stanlee Gatti, Adam Gopnik, Carole Shorenstein Hays, Wes Jackson, Bob Kerrey, Jonathan Kozol, Frances Moore Lappe, Phillip Lopate, David Mas Masumoto, Frances McDormand, Nan McEvoy, Bette Midler, Daphne Miller, Margrit Mondavi, Davia Nelson, Marion Nestle, Nell Newman, Jamie Oliver, Michael Pollan, Robert Redford, Ruth Reichl, Boz Scaggs, Orville Schell, Eric Schlosser, Gus Schumacher, Peter Sellars, Anna Deavere Smith, Meryl Streep, Michael Tilson Thomas, Calvin Trillin, Alice Walker, Jacqui West

Chez Sludge

The Food Rights Network released a major investigative report on July 9, 2010 titled: Chez Sludge: How the Sewage Sludge Industry Bedded Alice Waters. It examines the conflicts of interest and collusion between the Chez Panisse Foundation and the SFPUC based on an extensive open records investigation of the SFPUC internal files. (To view the internal documents see: SFPUC Sludge Controversy Timeline.)

"Edible Schoolyard" Affiliate Gardens

EYS affiilates exist now in Greensboro, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York and San Francisco.

According to its website, "the Chez Panisse Foundation is developing quality partnerships with a handful of programs ... . Our affiliates are located in a variety of settings, with diverse communities, climates, and funding sources. While our affiliates are not identical to the Berkeley program, they share our goal of instilling in children a lifelong appreciation of the connections between food, health, and the environment. ... We are currently not accepting applications for our affiliate program."

Articles and resources

Related SourceWatch articles

• Chez Panisse Foundation
• Alice Waters
• Francesca Vietor
• Peoples Grocery

External articles

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