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Preparing to enjoy the fruits (and vegetables) of their labor at Malcolm X's school garden. Photos: Rivka Mason
Three of Berkeley Unified School District‘s elementary schools – Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, and Washington — are in jeopardy of losing their entire cooking and gardening program funds beginning in October this year.
Under existing guidelines, the schools will no longer qualify for federal funding because they have fewer than 50% of their students enrolled in the free and reduced-lunch program, according to Leah Sokolofski, who supervises the program for the district.
Berkeley has an international reputation for its edible schoolyards, where public school children of all economic means learn what it takes to grow a radish and sauté some chard. Such funding cuts to the program, whose total budget is $1.94 million a year, would represent a significant setback in the city’s pioneering efforts to date.
School gardening and cooking champion Alice Waters, whose Chez Panisse Foundation helped fund the Edible Schoolyard at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School, expressed dismay at the potential budget cuts to programs. “It’s inevitable cuts will come — people think these programs are dispensable and the state of California is in a financial crisis — but it’s a tragedy,” she said.(...)
Read the rest of Berkeley school gardening, cooking programs face cuts (1,270 words)
By Sarah Henry. |
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Post tags: Alice Waters, Berkeley Schools Gardening and Cooking Alliance, Cragmont Elementary School, Edible Schoolyard, Jefferson Elementary School, Leah Sokolofski, Malcolm X Elementary School, Oxford Elementary School, Rosa Parks Elementary School, school food, Washington Elementary School
