CHICAGO, IL– JANUARY, 2011– Sustainability and childhood obesity are two of the nation’s biggest domestic issues today. The struggles experienced by our educational institutions in meeting both of these challenges pose serious risks for the future of our country and our children. Chicago-based non-profit, The Organic School Project (OSP), believes that it is the responsibility of all Americans to participate in combating childhood obesity and related health epidemics in our communities. According to OSP’s Executive Director Greg Christian, education must begin within the nation’s schools. OSP is proud to release a 3-volume set of recipes, classroom lessons and gardening strategies entitled Grow Teach Feed: A Complete Curriculum to Inspire Healthy Lifestyles in Schools, as a model for the nation’s schools.
“The publication will be a year-round tool that will help foodservice providers, educational policy makers, kitchen staff, teachers and parents ensure that the needs of our children are being met, both in the lunchroom and the classroom,” stated Organic School Project Executive Director Greg Christian, resident of Oak Park. Through this publication, the organization hopes to further foster better eating habits in students and bring sustainable foodservice to the nation’s educational feeding system.
Grow Teach Feed: A Complete Curriculum To Inspire Healthy Lifestyles In Schools is divided into three core books: a Grow manual designed to instruct classes on gardening practices, a Teach lesson plan aimed at students in 1st through 8th grades, and a Feed handbook for school foodservice personnel to ensure recipes featuring healthier local and seasonal foods make it into the menu in school cafeterias. Each volume will provide content organized by season. The 3-volume set will launch in February, 2011.
To help fund the initiative and other operations at the non-profit, OSP is partnering with supporters both within and outside the food industry who share a commitment to enhancing the eating habits, nutrition and orientation toward sustainable food practices among today’s kids.
OSP’S Grow Teach Feed approach has been validated by recent research including a collaborative three year study from the Center for Ecoliteracy, Chez Panisse Foundation and University of California at Berkley. All organizations support the hypothesis that if young people are involved in growing, cooking, and sharing fresh, healthy food while learning about it at school, they will be more likely to develop lifelong healthy eating habits and values that are consistent with sustainable living.
“Now is really the time to push our educational institutions, foodservice providers, and governmental leadership to make the change that’s needed to bring sustainable, healthy lifestyles to kids who might otherwise not have them,” says Christian. “This publication is designed to take on all the aspects necessary – in the garden, the classroom and cafeteria – to make that change possible.”
Amid increasing concern about the food students are being given today, a variety of local and national efforts are challenging American schools to improve nutrition and add healthier, more real foods to their fare. Recent documentaries such as Lunch Line – inspired by an article on OSP– have examined the crisis. And the Obama administration’s focus on the USDA’s Healthier US School Challenge, the FDA’s Let’s Move program, and the establishment of National School Lunch Week illustrate that momentum is mounting to solve this crisis.
Because so many unhealthy options are offered to kids throughout the day, experts agree improved nutrition is a challenge that requires innovative solutions. That may translate into increased instruction on school gardens and farm-to-table eating, serving more locally-grown foods in school meals, and organizing chef demonstrations and farm field trips that help students understand with where their lunch actually comes from.
“This is a process, and it will take more than a few weeks of awareness to get schools, parents and foodservice industry to make kids’ health a priority,” notes Christian. “But clearly there are a lot of efforts being made to get there, and Grow Teach Feed will be an important part of that.”
About The Organic School Project
The Organic School Project, a Chicago-based non-profit organization, has encouraged healthy lifestyles for over 3,500 kids and thousands of families since its founding in 2005. Its mission is to combat childhood obesity and related health epidemics through the Grow Teach Feed model, laying the foundation for urban youth to build sustainable lifestyles. The Organic School Project encourages healthier eating, nurtures organic school gardens, and teaches lessons about nutrition and the environment. Companies interested in sponsoring or supporting Grow Teach Feed: A Complete Curriculum to Inspire Healthy Lifestyles In Schools should contact Colleen Kelly at The Organic School Project at 312-492-8800.
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