The Case Against the Edible Schoolyard

This month's issue of The Atlantic fires a big shot at Alice Waters' Edible Schoolyard movement. The article is full of myriad points against the increasingly popular "garden curricula," namely, the simple fact that it doesn't fulfill the promise of a better education: "I have spent many hours poring over the endless research on the positive effects of garden curricula, and in all that time, I have yet to find a single study that suggests classroom gardens help students meet the state standards for English and math ... With the Edible Schoolyard, and the thousands of similar programs, the idea of a school as a venue in which to advance a social agenda has reached rock bottom. " [The Atlantic]