BUSD Garden-Based Learning Curriculum

The Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) has pioneered garden education since the first school garden was planted at LeConte Elementary in 1983. This single garden inspired many others, and over the next twelve years it evolved into a multi-school Gardening and Cooking Program with annual support from a federal grant of $1.9 million from the California Nutrition Network (CNN). Once the new farm bill was finally signed in 2014, after more than five years of heated debate, nutrition assistance and education programs got cut across the board. This affected nutrition education programs throughout the country. The Gardening and Cooking Program has proved resilient despite losing all of this funding. The 2014-2015 school year marks a shift. Today, BUSD provides a program focused on garden-based learning that connects to Next Generation Science and Common Core State Standards at eleven elementary schools, three early child education schools, two middle schools, and Berkeley Technology Academy. This was made possible with community driven support and an unprecedented commitment from the BUSD School Board that demonstrates thought-leadership and a continued commitment to educating the whole child.

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