Event: Elementary students harvest their
crops on the final days of an urban farm program taught
by retired farmers.Place: UBC Farm, 6182 South Campus Road
(west off 16th Ave. onto Wesbrook Mall, then east onto South
Campus Rd.)Parking: Adjacent to the Farm Centre Building
at UBC FarmDate / Time: Wednesday, June 15, 2005
10:00 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Media — please book interviews in advance with Prof.
Jolie Mayer-Smith at 604.822.5293 or 604.224.0882. On June
15, locate Mayer-Smith at UBC Farm via cell at 778.867.0409.
City school children are beginning to harvest their crops
and say their farewells to the farmers who have taught them
in a unique environmental education program at the University
of British Columbia.
Celebrating the fruits of their labour are 31 Grade 6 and
7 students from Graham Bruce Elementary School. For the past
four months, they have bused across town from eastside Vancouver
to learn first hand how the health of the land affects the
quality of food we eat and the air we breathe.
UBC education professors Jolie Mayer-Smith and Linda Peterat
designed the Intergenerational Landed Learning Project held
at UBC Farm. They invited retired farmers to teach urban children
about land stewardship, agriculture and ecology by planting
flowers, fruits and vegetables. Students are teamed up with
farmers to turn plots of soil into lush green growth.
Through conversations, lessons, and practice the students
learn about sustainable food practices, issues of food production
and distribution, and the social history of farming.
The Landed Learning project began in 2002 with 18 students
and a handful of retired farmers. With funding from the Investment
Agriculture Foundation of B.C., the project expanded to 100
children in grades five to seven from two Vancouver elementary
schools and nine home-school families.
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