Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Edible Schoolyard




As you all know, this semester I am focusing my work in studio around the Slow Food Movement. For our last project, a collective task, I am focusing on the Edible Schoolyard project. The Edible Schoolyard was first introduced by chef Alice Waters. The program allows schools to set up edible gardens that are run by the students (with some help). The food is then used in their school cafeteria. Being an educational institution, learning is also a major part of the Edible Schoolyard. Students learn all types of things from eco-systems, food systems, biology, etc. It's really a fascinating project. Once we get settled somewhere it would be great to be involved with building one from the ground up.

My project, the collective task, is to create a website that allows three schools that currently have Edible Schoolyardsto share their experiences and knowledge. By allowing students to draw from each others collected data (and teachers), they are able to learn in new (non-text book) ways. I'm focusing on how students would virtually explore the gardens online and look through annotations, such as photos, data, etc, that students have attached. I'm hoping that by allowing the students to make comparisons with their peers in other parts of the country, the information will become more tangible.

As you'll see in these screen shots, I've also managed to incorporate my neices and nephews (and stella:)) into the design. It's nice to at least see their names on a daily basis, since I can't see them :) (i've still got to work gage and hayden in there somewhere)

*disclaimer: this is not a website that will be built. this is a prototype for educational purposes and should be viewed as such.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Marty,
There is no Edible Schoolyard in Pittsburgh and the food grown in ESY gardens is not used in the cafeterias. Sincerely, Chef April

ESYNOLA

Marty Maxwell Lane said...

Chef April,

Thank you for your information. I have added a disclaimer to my post that this project is not an actual website that will be built. This is an exploration into potential uses of technology in a learning environment. So, all projects and information should be viewed as such. I was using the Grow Pittsburgh (http://www.growpittsburgh.org/growpittsburgh/) initiative to stand in for an actual Edible Schoolyard in the project. My hope is that the Edible Schoolyard model will continue to grow and include more areas, so fictional programs would not be necessary.

Regarding the food being used in the school cafeterias, I was under the impression that the Edible Schoolyard in Berkeley does follow that model.

Great work you are all doing at ESYNOLA. Hopefully, the model will continue to grow.

Thanks for your feedback.