Even as school gardens are becoming more common across the nation, funds are still scarce or altogether nonexistent. These programs are mainly run by teachers and parents volunteering their time and dollars to the school garden.

I am a volunteer in the Learning Garden at my son’s school and greatly enjoy it. Most of the students get very excited about being in the gardens. My son looks forward to his weekly classes because he gets to be outdoors and dig in the earth, learn hands on about nature, and some times he even gets to eat the direct results of the garden!

I recently heard about Eating for Education from a local teacher, writer and chef, Samin Nosrat, also the mastermind behind Bakesale for Japan and Haiti. Eating for Education is a grassroots effort to create national awareness about school garden and school lunch programs. The campaign will culminate in homes and restaurants around the country on August 27th with special dinners celebrating the building power of Edible Education.

How to get involved:
If you own a restaurant or cafe, the campaign is looking for more participants to sign up to host dinners on Saturday August 27th. This campaign asks that a portion of the profits (whatever you feel comfortable with) from the event be donated to a local school garden of the restaurant’s choice. Restaurants that do not have a specific school in mind will be paired up with one by Samin.

Each restaurant will be listed on the Eating for Education website, and the event will be advertised in the San Francisco Chronicle and online. It is easy to sign up: just go to www.eatingforeducation.org and fill out the participating restaurant form.

If you like to eat, and would like to show your support, please eat at a participating restaurant on August 27th. Check www.eatingforeducation.org for a list of the quickly growing number of participating restaurants.

If you wish to share a home dinner, you may feel free to ask your friends and family to donate so you can make a group contribution to a local school garden program, but really, it’s about getting people in the kitchen (ideally with kids) and around the table to share a meal together.

Be sure to support this….we are and wish to spread the word!

Please feel free to contact me via e-mail if you have any questions, ideas or suggestions on how we can help you participate.