Do school gardens yield success or failure?
First Lady Michelle Obama hosts a fall harvest of the White House vegetable garden with help of students from Washington's Bancroft and Kimball Elementary schools on October 29, 2009 in Washington, DC.
School gardens have grown in popularity as a way to expand learning opportunities outside the classroom and promote environmental awareness and healthy eating habits with students. Today in California, there are more than 3,800 school gardens. But in a recent opinion piece in The Atlantic, Caitlin Flanagan argues that while this might be fine for an after-school activity, garden-based curricula have no benefit on academic performance and are a misuse of classroom time, especially in a state with high drop-out rates. Are school gardens providing valuable hands-on learning, or would the time and money be better spent on other subjects?
Guests:
Caitlin Flanagan, author of Cultivating Failure, in the February issue of The Atlantic
Marianne Brown, MS in public health & master gardener who volunteers at 3 LAUSD school gardens, including the Venice High School Learning Garden
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