School Lunch
Investing in child nutrition is an investment our future.
Slow Food in Schools
Supporting School Gardens, Healthy School Lunch Options, and Food Education
CCA Scholarship to Italy
Sending one Le Cordon Bleu California Culinary Academy student to Italy for training
Terra Madre
Sending one Bay Area farmer to the annual Terra Madre meeting in Torino, Italy
Ark of Taste
Supporting a catalog of over 200 delicious foods in danger of extinction.
Slow Food in Schools: Garden Program
Slow Food in Schools teaches youth about the values of eating locally, seasonally and sustainably through hands-on projects. Programs range from collaborating on curricula and after school activities to improving school lunches and school garden programs.
As you may know Slow Food San Francisco has spent the last year working tirelessly to raise funds in order to help support our garden programs. Fortunately all of your help has allowed our venture to grow at a rate much faster than we anticipated. Sanchez School, located in the Noe Valley/Castro district, was able to hire a part-time school garden coordinator to assist with planting and maintaining the garden as well as teaching simple cooking techniques. Sanchez is doing so well that they are slated to break ground on a large-scale garden construction project, and recently installed a vertical garden. They are encouraging the community to suggest possible garden designs. If you are interested in putting in your input please be on the look out for notice on the date of next community meeting.
Mira Loma elementary school, located in the Glen Park area, has a part-time teacher/parent garden coordinator. Last summer they were able start on a major up-grade of the garden area thus creating better access for all students. Part of the upgrade included the recent building of a chicken coop. At the moment eggs are being incubated in two separate classrooms, with the anticipation of the Chickens being moved outside this spring. Miraloma is currently searching for a full-time garden coordinator as well as community members to help maintain both the garden and chickens over the summer months. If you are interested in volunteering at Miraloma please feel free to contact the school. (Please keep in mind that in order to volunteer it is not necessary to have a student in attendance).
Paul Revere Elementary has an active "Greening" committee which works with parents, teachers, the principal, and students, in order to assist them with their gardening plan. The plan will hopefully expand in the next month when the committee expect to plant edibles (weather permitting). They are currently writing grant proposals to fund a garden coordinator. Fortunately, by 2011 Paul Revere will be eligible for 'Prop A' funding.
The newest of our schools, Paul Revere welcomes the community to get involved in the planning and maintaining phases of the edible garden. In the meantime, if you would like to help support their efforts, please join Paul Revere's clean-up/planting day scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 27th at 10am.
Slow Food San Francisco is extremely proud of the work that the previous three schools have accomplished that we are presently in talks to include the following schools on our School Garden rooster:
Starr King (located in Potrero Hill), and Sheridan (located in Ingleside).
Both of these schools are anxious to have community participation in the garden planning and planting process. Please know that whether or not you have children attending either of these schools, feel free to contact them about helping with the gardening process. Be assured that volunteering as little as once a month will be very helpful. In the meantime be sure to check the monthly 'Slow News' letter for more updates on the schools mentioned above as well as any other School Garden events.
If you're interested in learning more please read more about the Next Generation of Farmers on Civil Eats, by Gordon Jenkins.
Slow Food USA Micro Grants
Slow Food USA, along with chapters all over the country, is striving to create a better relationship between our children and their food. Our goal is to ground their experience with food on pleasure, tradition and sustainability.
Slow Food USA offers project support for school gardens and wellness programs through annual Micro-Grant Awards and the Slow Food in Schools Project Leader's Conference- bringing together leaders from successful in-school gardens across the country.
Explore how to start your own Slow Food in schools project!