"Last October, Donna Marchick, a program administrator at the Department of Facilities Management, informed teachers at Maryvale Elementary School that food was not permitted to be grown on school grounds.
"As you know," she wrote, "food-bearing plants attract pests. Maryland law restricts the use of pesticides on school grounds. Therefore, planting of food bearing plants is prohibited by MCPS."" To read the full article, click HERE.
The "vegetable garden ban" is just another instance of the incumbent Board of Education failing to show common sense! MCPS allows teenagers to play school-sponsored tackle football, but won't allow elementary aged children to grow some fresh tomatoes and peppers, citing "liability concerns?" Ridiculous!
There are no good reasons to ban school vegetable gardens, and many, many good reasons to support and embrace them. The Montgomery Victory Gardens group has sent a letter to Dr. Weast, outlining the health and educational benefits of vegetable gardens to our students, and offering help and assistance. Our schools should be in the business of promoting healthy nutrition. What better way to start than with vegetables children grow themselves?
No comments:
Post a Comment