Edible Schoolyard | New Orleans
Welcome to the Edible Schoolyard New Orleans
Changing the way kids eat, learn, and live
Created in 2006, the Edible Schoolyard New Orleans (ESY NOLA) integrates organic gardening and seasonal cooking into the curricula, culture, and food programs at two public charter schools; Samuel J. Green and Arthur Ashe. ESY NOLA is based on the original Edible Schoolyard founded in Berkeley, California by chef and food education activist Alice Waters. ESY NOLA provides students with engaging hands-on learning experiences through weekly gardening and cooking classes and school-based seasonal events that promote the food traditions of New Orleans. Students in grades K-8 participate in lessons that reinforce classroom coursework and core subjects (science, social studies, language, and math). At the Edible Schoolyard, the garden and kitchen are interactive venues where textbook lessons come to life. Through these experiences, students become stewards or our land and natural resources, and discover that teamwork yields genuine benefits in the garden, kitchen, and in life.
Community News
Putting down roots in a space that once held Katrina’s swelling floodwaters, the Edible Schoolyard of New Orleans launched in 2005 as the first affiliate of Alice Water’s garden and kitchen classroom in Berkeley. With the help of over 300 eager students, the program has become a vital part of the city’s community, providing organically-grown food and culinary education.
We contacted with the program’s founding director, Donna Cavato, to hear about her work and why she’s optimistic about America’s eating habits.
Read the full interview with our executive director on the James Beard Foundation website
Students at Arthur Ashe and Green Charter greatly improved on the LEAP tests from 2008 to 2009.
A lot of the 450 kids in the school get 80 percent of their daily calories from the breakfast, lunch and two snacks they get at school. The cafeteria tables have fresh cut flowers and water pitcher so kids can learn sharing and get hydrated. They also make and eat food from the cultures they are studying. For example, Aztec pumpkin soup and quinoa pilaf. There are after school programs for kids who are below grade level in being business entrepreneurs.
Read more about the AFJ's visit to ESY NOLA on Food for Thought