RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, the ancient Hawaiians knew how to live interdependently with their environment and how to sustain and nourish themselves; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii is a unique state with an island economy, in which about 90 percent of what is consumed has been imported from out-of-state; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature recognized that it is imperative for Hawaii to embrace sustainability, and deliberate actions, as a vision and goal; and

WHEREAS, deliberate actions that lead to sustainability are needed to change mindsets, consumption habits, and use of natural resources; and

WHEREAS, youth behave in our society according to what they learn and live; and

WHEREAS, schools across the nation are promoting healthy habits and other valuable lessons to students with the use of edible school gardens; and

WHEREAS, edible school gardens can introduce students to environmental issues through lessons on organic food, composting, and recycling; and

WHEREAS, an edible school garden is a resource that can be integrated into the curriculum at every level of education and can form the basis for lessons in science, math, art, social studies, and more; and

WHEREAS, schools in Pennsylvania, Colorado, and New York use edible school gardens to teach tolerance and diversity by introducing students to different cultural food traditions; and

WHEREAS, a school in Arizona uses its edible school garden to produce healthy food in conjunction with a program on diabetes education; and

WHEREAS, the edible school garden at the Martin Luther King Junior Middle School, in Berkeley, California, is a good model, as at one time, the schoolyard was covered in blacktop and the school only offered microwaved, packaged food, but the school transformed the schoolyard into an enormous edible school garden, revamping the school's landscape, the school's lunch program, and its entire curriculum; and

WHEREAS, schools in Hawaii, such as Aikahi Elementary School, Pukalani Elementary School, Waimea Middle School, Makaha Elementary School, and Ha'aheo Elementary School have already introduced edible gardens into the curriculum; and

WHEREAS, in a message titled "Slow Food, Slow Schools," Alice Walker recalls that a meal was once a ritual that signified tradition, character, sustainability, and diversity, but fast-food messages have now saturated contemporary culture and have given children the impression that food is cheap and abundant; and

WHEREAS, statistics compiled by the United States Department of Agriculture indicate that more than 80 percent of school-aged children are not consuming the recommended daily servings of fruits and vegetables; and

WHEREAS, youth obesity has risen an alarming 60 percent in the past 20 years, and more than 20 percent of Hawaiian children are overweight; and

WHEREAS, obesity is the number one health problem in America and has caused about 400,000 deaths in the year 2000; and

WHEREAS, studies conducted by institutions such as the Tufts University School of Nutrition indicate a correlation between children's nutritional intake and their ability to learn; and

WHEREAS, children may benefit from a model of healthy eating to counter the flood of advertising for high-fat, high-calorie fast foods to which they are constantly exposed; and

WHEREAS, in addition to helping students to learn healthier eating habits, the establishment of edible gardens, as a performance measurement indicator, can also help them to learn about their role in sustaining Hawaii; and

WHEREAS, Slow Food Hawaii, lead by Nancy Piianaia, is part of a larger educational organization dedicated to promoting stewardship of the land and ecologically sound food production, of which one of the goals is to provide children with the opportunity to have a connection to their food by planting seeds, harvesting crops, preparing meals, and rejoicing in conviviality; and

WHEREAS, Slow Food Hawaii can help educators to develop projects, such as edible school gardens, in their school and can offer assistance with curriculum; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2005, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Education (DOE), Board of Education (BOE), and Hawaii Association of Independent Schools (HAIS) are encouraged to evaluate the liability of and consider policies that would allow the School Community Councils the choice of establishing an edible garden program at their schools in the spirit of Act 51; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that DOE, BOE, and HAIS are encouraged to consider policies that integrate edible school gardens into school curriculums and school nutritional programs; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that DOE will request the cooperation and support of the Department of Agriculture and the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that DOE is requested to submit a report to the Legislature on its progress in establishing edible school gardens and implementing them into school curriculums, no later than 20 days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2007; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Superintendent of Education, the Chairperson of the Board of Education, and the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Hawaii Association of Independent Schools.

Report Title:

Edible School Gardens