The Problem
Students will become experts on important social issues including the phenomenon of food deserts in urban areas, the vital nature of self-sustaining communities, and the critical notion of sharing expertise. At the fall festival, students will educate community members about the importance of growing food in urban areas. By growing food, harvesting, cooking, and sharing food, students will be able to see and relate the entire food system process. This process will become the curriculum that they share with community members at our harvest festival.
Our Plan
ECMS-Inglewood Green Ambassador program will connect students to their community through the cultivating of a community vegetable garden. Over the course of the spring, students in their classes, will plan, cultivate, maintain, and curate the garden, and the harvest will be shared with community, both within and outside of the school, at a fall harvest-environmental festival. At this festival, students will give harvested food away to parents as well as local neighbors. They will grow seedlings and teach families how to plant and grow their own home gardens. Throughout the spring, volunteer guest speakers will work with students to understand and analyze food-related issues facing urban communities.