Why an Urban Farm is Worth Our While… as prepared for public land use in Cleveland, Tennessee

Agriculture and Education
Student to Garden
• Exciting atmosphere for experiential learning in an array of subjects
• Curriculum enriched with tangible lessons that stimulate multiple senses
• Students have a heightened interest in learning and are excited about science
• Healthy eating is encouraged
• Foods grown by students have shown to be enjoyed by students (!)
• Environmental awareness is intermingled with education and not a catchphrase
• Material understanding of food and its origin
• Social skills are enhanced

Community to Garden
• Healthy eating and family dinners are encouraged
• Workshops provide useful training
• Well-being of involved increases with collaborative labor and resulting harvest
• Better understanding of food’s value in healthy lives and communities

Student and Community
• Cross-generational communication
• Neighborly relationships established
• Barriers of all sort relent amidst food production and consumption
• Creation and appreciation of an aesthetically enjoyable outdoor space

Past and Future
• Highlighted evaluation of the farmer’s role in Bradley County, Tennessee and American history- from Thomas Jefferson & soil to Victory Gardens and the TN Federation of Garden Clubs, Inc.
• Highlighted evaluation of technology’s historical role in helping farms feed people
• Highlighted evaluation of farmland and farmer loss and its impact on our food culture and assembly
• Increased awareness of current environmental issues associated with agriculture
• Personalized understanding of food’s value in viable systems
• Contribution to a national movement
• Expressed action in repaving road for locally established food security

“These are people who are capable of devotion, public devotion, to justice.
They meant what they said and every day that passes, they mean it more.”
-Wendell Berry

Agriculture and Education
Selected Research
Bjornson, Marti Ross. Bloom to grow: community gardening provides education, enrichment and eggplants all in one plot. Parks & Recreation 41.3 (March 2006): 52(8). General OneFile.
Dollarhide, Maya. Math Blooms in North Carolina. Instructor 115.8 (May2006): p.9(1). Academic Search Premier.
Graham, H., Beall, D., Lussier, M., McLaughlin, P., Zinderberg-Cherr, S. Use of School Gardens in Academic Instruction. Journal of Nutrition Education & Behavior 37.3 (May/Jun2005): 147(5). Academic Search Premier.
Hyatt, A. Organic school gardens: Goff Middle School enriching students with organic gardening. New York State Conservationist 62.5 (April 2008): p.37(1). General OneFile.
Mohrmann, P. Planting the seeds of science: the school garden - a perfect laboratory for teaching science. Instructor 108.6 (March 1999): 25(5). General OneFile.
Thorp, L., Townsend, C. Agricultural Education in an Elementary School: An Ethnographic Study of a School Garden Presented at 28th Annual National Agricultural Education Research Conference, Dec 12, 2001. <www.csgn.org>.
Wakefield, S., Yeudall, F., Taron, C., Reynolds, J., Skinner, A. Growing urban health: Community gardening in South-East Toronto. Health Promotion International 22(2) 2007: 92(9). PubMed.

Curriculum, Professional Enhancement, Examples and Resources
SARE, Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education- USDA supported organization
<http://www.sare.org/publications/edguide.htm>
Life Lab- University of California at Santa Cruz
<http://www.lifelab.org/>
The Edible Schoolyard- Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School, Berkeley, California
<http://www.edibleschoolyard.org/homepage.html>
Horticulture and Elementary Curriculum- Virginia Tech
<http://www.hort.vt.edu/HORT6004/network/index.html>
Growing Minds: Farm to School- Appalachian Initiative, Asheville, North Carolina
<http://www.growing-minds.org/>
Coyne Center Elementary School Garden- Milan, Illinois
<http://209.174.82.130/tg/intro.html>
The Learning Garden- Venice High School, California
<http://www.thelearninggarden.org/aboutus.html>

General Agriculture Topic (with links on education)
SARE, Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education- USDA supported organization
<http://www.sare.org/coreinfo/consumers.htm>
Community Food Security Coalition- National
<http://www.foodsecurity.org/index.html>
Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project- Regional
<www.asapconnections.org>

Tennessee Federation of Garden Clubs, Inc. <http://www.tngardenclubs.org/>
Thomas Jefferson <http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/2005_summer_fall/agronomist.htm>