A few weeks ago, Caitlin Flanagan published an article in The Atlantic about how programs like Alice Water’s Edible Schoolyard are damaging the most vulnerable students in the US school systems. I’m not going to write my own rebuttal of the piece here, but I do like a lot of what was written at the Serious Eater’s website.
I bristle a bit at articles that try to explain the negative impacts of local food education (especially curriculums that integrate exploration in a school garden with the set subjects for a grade) because I credit Alice Waters with my wanderings into the local and sustainable food movement.
When I was a freshman at Yale University, a close friend and suitemate of mine was part of the team that first acquired the grant money and land in New Haven to start Yale’s very own on-campus farm. Our dining halls started serving local and organic greens and meat. We had lectures and seminars on campus with agriculture rock stars like Joel Salatin and Kelly Brownell. I’d never heard of organic agriculture or most of the issues involved in food production before making my way to university. I even remember a discussion in a supermarket near my dorm room that started like this:
