thoughtcrumbs

School gardens in Pittsburgh

Alice Waters is currently discussing making Pittsburgh the third city in the U.S. (after Berkeley and New Orleans) to have her Edible Schoolyard, a combination of organic food garden and state-of-the-art kitchen where children harvest and cook their own lunches. A Post-Gazette article today pointed out that two local elementary schools already have edible gardens, but lack kitchens for cooking the produce.

Big Burrito Group Executive Corporate Chef Bill Fuller brought equipment and staff to a school in Homewood yesterday to prepare corn, tomatoes, and beans grown in the school garden. The next step is a mobile kitchen, being developed by Grow Pittsburgh. And hopefully we'll eventually have a modern kitchen with recycled old-growth wood and craftsman counter tops, like the Berkeley Edible Kitchen. (Although formica and pressboard wouldn't be bad, either.)

Update:Casbah restaurant will be having a charity dinner on March 27, 2008 to benefit the Edible Schoolyard project. It's pricey but the funds go directly to the charity.