Posted Jul 09, 2019
This fall, Green City Market will be in the classroom educating 475 students through hands-on lessons featuring the freshest food purchased from our local farmers and market vendors.
At Green City Market, we are passionate about educating consumers and the next generation of eaters about where food comes from, how it’s grown, and why it matters. GCM’s Edible Education program is inspired by renowned chef, Alice Waters of the Edible Schoolyard (ESY) movement born in Berkeley, California in 1995.
Lisa Kalabokis, GCM’s chef educator learned alongside 100 educators, farmers, cooks, and advocates at the Edible Schoolyard Berkeley this past month.
Her experience left her feeling full. Full of possibilities, potential, core principles, and practical tools for engaging students in academics, social and emotional learning, and justice in the kitchen, garden, and lunchroom.
Lisa shared, “I cannot begin to explain the impact that the training had on me, both professionally and personally. It was encouraging to be surrounded by like-minded colleagues from across the country and around the world”.
Each day, the kitchen staff at Martin Luther Jr. Middle School, ESY’s inaugural school and the training’s site, prepared a meal for all participants.
“The food was beautiful and, more importantly, it represented the nutritious, sustainably-sourced meals eaten by students in that very same dining hall on school days,” Lisa said.
Lunch was presented with a place mat that outlined the region and basic information relating to the food trainees were about to eat.
“The way the meal was served put into sharp focus the potential we have as educators to fight for the quality of food and caliber of education each student deserves. It showed me that even in the lunchroom, educators have an opportunity to engage students,” Lisa reflected.
She continued, “In fact, that is my greatest takeaway from this program. The opportunity to learn always exists, especially when it relates to food. Something as simple as spending five minutes to describe a potato chip offered a chance to engage in critical thought and invited a dynamic learning style that I believe should be celebrated and used everyday in our classrooms”.
Lisa is looking forward to the coming school year. “I can’t wait to get in the classroom. Through these teachings, I hope we foster a generation of responsible and respectful eaters. Individuals who will come together to improve our food system through their understanding of where food comes from, how it’s grown, and why it matters”.