Greenwise Joint Venture launches Edible Sac High with Mayor Kevin Johnson

October 9, 2012

Alice Waters and Mayor Kevin Johnson break ground at Edible Sac High

Chef Alice Waters joins groundbreaking, project modeled after her ‘Edible Schoolyard’ program

Greenwise Joint Venture was joined by Mayor Kevin Johnson today to launch ‘Edible Sac High’ at Sacramento Charter High School, the first comprehensive garden-to-classroom education program of its kind in the region.

Greenwise Joint Venture and Mayor Johnson were joined by world-renowned chef Alice Waters, Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture Karen Ross, President of the California State Board of Food and Agriculture Craig McNamara and Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD) Superintendent Jonathan Raymond, for the official groundbreaking of Edible Sac High at Sacramento Charter High School. Sac High students involved in Edible Sac High participated in the groundbreaking as well.

The mission of Edible Sac High is to provide students with the tools they will need to assume ownership for the well-being of themselves and the student body at large. Edible Sac High provides these tools through a fully integrated curriculum across three main activities: a school garden, a kitchen classroom, and a student-run cafeteria.

The goal is to educate students on how their food choices affect their health, the environment, and their communities.

“Today’s groundbreaking represents the incredible opportunity to bring Alice’s vision to Sacramento and teach our children the skills and knowledge necessary for them to be healthy for life,” said Mayor Johnson. “Through Edible Sac High we have the chance to not only transform a school but a community, giving Sac High students the tools to influence friends and family to be healthier. Ultimately, this project is our chance to help students achieve in the classroom and through hands-on experiences, how they see food as a transformational opportunity in their everyday lives.”

Edible Sac High is modeled after The Edible Schoolyard at Berkeley’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School started by Waters in 1996: a one-acre garden, a kitchen-classroom, and an “eco-gastronomic” curriculum.

The program is nationally recognized for its efforts to integrate gardening, cooking, and sharing school lunch into the core academic curriculum.

“The Edible Schoolyard Project is thrilled to collaborate with Mayor Johnson, the Sacramento City Unified School District, Greenwise Joint Venture and Sacramento Charter High School administrators, educators and students, to create Edible Sac High,” Waters said. “Mayor Johnson is committed to the creation of an Edible Education curriculum that engages and feeds every student.”

The Edible Sac High garden will involve 90 students or 10 percent of Sac High’s student population. Eventually, Sacramento Charter High School will have a cafeteria run like a business with full involvement by the students.

“Because we serve 6 million meals annually, improving cafeteria food has been of utmost importance, Superintendent Raymond said. “However, it is just as important that students learn where food comes from so they can make healthy choices outside of school. School gardens provide this important linkage – one reason we are committed to establishing them throughout the district.”

Next steps include planting winter crops and by summer Sacramento Charter High School will have a full garden and new trees provided by the Sacramento Tree Foundation. To initiate the project, initial investment was made possible through Greenwise Joint Venture and the FUSE Corps Fellowship. Greenwise will also identify community and financing partners for the long-term establishment of the project.

To learn more about Edible Sac High, visit EdibleSacHigh.org.