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

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

WHEREAS, in a message titled Slow Food, Slow Schools, Alice Walker recalls that at one time a meal was a ritual, which signified tradition, character, sustainability, and diversity; however, fast-food messages now saturate contemporary culture and give children the impression that food is cheap and abundant; 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, 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, edible school gardens can introduce students to environmental issues through lessons on organic food, composting, and recycling; 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; however, the school transformed the schoolyard into an enormous edible school garden, which renovated 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 gardens into the curriculum; and

WHEREAS, Slow Food Hawaii, lead by Nancy Pilanaia, is part of a larger educational organization dedicated to promoting stewardship of the land and ecologically sound food production, one of the goals of which 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 develop projects, such as edible school gardens, in their school and offer assistance with curriculum; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2005, that the Department of Education and the Hawaii Association of Independent Schools are applauded for their support of such efforts and encouraged to promote their existing policies regarding the use of edible school gardens; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education and the Hawaii Association of Independent Schools are encouraged to promote policies that integrate edible school gardens into school curricula and school nutrition programs; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education is requested to submit a report on the number of schools that have established edible school gardens and the progress towards implementing the gardens into school curricula to the Legislature no later than twenty days before 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 Hawaii Association of Independent Schools.

Report Title:

Education; Edible School Gardens