Children at Maharishi School put their hands, minds and hearts into their food, as they prepare fruits and vegetables grown in the Maharishi School gardens and its 4,100 square foot greenhouse and turn them into delicious dishes.

Healthy eating develops consciousness
by Christine Albers at Enlightenment, The Transcendental Meditation Magazine online
September 2014

Parents take note: The Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity recently released a study indicting fast food restaurants for aggressive marketing campaigns targeted to youth. Research has shown that eating fast food can lead to Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and elevated cholesterol levels, as well as an addiction to the artificially induced, hyper-palatable tastes that cause children to have trouble adjusting their palate to the more subtle flavors in whole foods.

Alice Waters decided to do something about the unhealthy diets of American kids. Founder of the world-renowned Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley and the mother of the Slow Food movement in the U.S., Waters started The Edible Schoolyard Academy in Berkeley to help reintroduce kids to fresh, whole foods.

Two faculty members from Maharishi School in Fairfield, Iowa—an award-winning K-12 school specializing in innovative Consciousness-Based programs—attended Alice Waters’ workshop for teachers. Karen DeAngelis, Director of the Greenhouse and Garden Program, and Laurie Baumann, Director of the Girls School, spent five days learning about programs that help children become better connected to organic food production and healthy eating habits and returned with new plans to strengthen Maharishi School’s already strong commitment to educating children in sustainable living and healthy diet.

Maharishi School pays a great deal of attention to the diet and nutrition of each student. It is one of the few schools in the U.S. that serves 100 percent organic, vegetarian, freshly prepared food. Breads and pastries are baked each day using organic flour. Locally grown produce is used whenever possible, and milk, yogurt, and ice cream are sourced from a local organic dairy farm.

After returning from the workshop, Laurie and Karen supervised the completion of a new Maharishi School classroom kitchen facility that was built with a $25,000 grant from Microsoft and other donations. The teaching kitchen expanded the school’s existing Seed-to-Table program by allowing students to prepare fruits and vegetables grown in the Maharishi School gardens and its 4,100-square-foot greenhouse and turn them into delicious dishes.

Here Laurie and Karen talk about the introduction of The Edible Schoolyard program at Maharishi School.

Q: Why did you attend The Edible Schoolyard Academy in Berkeley?

Karen: We already had the makings of a great Edible Schoolyard program right here with our greenhouse and courtyard garden, but we wanted to encourage kids to eat the healthy produce that they were growing.

Laurie: I’ve always admired Alice Waters and her work in educating people about the value of eating fresh and local produce. We were ready to take the next step, teaching kids to prepare and eat the vegetables from our gardens, so we needed to learn how to integrate a kitchen and cooking program with the school’s current curriculum.

Q: How does the Edible Garden fit in with the curriculum at Maharishi School?

Karen: The program may include mathematics, social studies, or history. For example, at the Academy there was a lesson on the ancient Chinese Silk Road, the trade route that spanned China, Central Asia, Northern India, and parts of the Roman Empire in 200 AD. As part of the studies, we prepared foods from the various cultures.

Laurie: Students can practice geometry while formulating the size of the garden beds or structures. And in the kitchen the students learn about proportions by using measurements to expand recipes.

Karen: Many subjects can be integrated into the process of preparing food. For example, our students recently studied the pioneers and how they carried sourdough mix across the country in crocks. They cooked it over a fire, and were able to eat the bread while they traveled.

So we made sourdough bread and ground the grain ourselves, just like the pioneers.

Q: How does the school garden have a positive influence on your students and their attitudes toward healthy eating?

Laurie: When children sit at the table and eat together, they culture interpersonal skills. It gives them a sense of family and a chance to share their day-to-day experiences. Many families are too busy to have family meals the way we used to when we were growing up. Nowadays so many kids eat and run, not even tasting what they eat. Their involvement in preparing the food encourages them to actually sit and taste the meal. This helps them enjoy their meal, which is good for their health and helps prevent obesity.

Karen: We’re trying to create a situation where there’s a relationship between the student and food. When children understand that food is the basis of their health, their perception changes. Many families in the U.S. don’t cook. Everything is prepackaged and frozen. Many students won’t eat anything that is not fast food. When children experience planting, harvesting, and preparing the vegetables they’ve grown, they put their hands, minds, and hearts into the food. The garden teaches respect, teamwork, and builds self-esteem, which are qualities that can help children succeed in other aspects of their lives.

Q: How do you see their attitudes changing?

Laurie: Frequently parents tell us, “My child never liked chard, but now he not only likes it, it’s his favorite food.” This comes from nurturing and tending a garden, where children have a connection with the plants and the food they prepare, and of course they want to eat it.

Q: How does the kitchen work as a classroom?

Karen: The kitchen includes prepping, cooking, clean-up, and dish washing stations, where kids can work together in teams. They cook from scratch, using fresh, whole ingredients and make everything from bread and pastries to entrees and soup.

Laurie: We offer a cooking elective five days a week. Many of our international boarding students enjoy learning how to take the best recipes from their countries and prepare them in healthier ways by using fresh organic vegetables, herbs, and seasonings. We’re so delighted that the kitchen is finally completed and we can offer a full Seed-to-Table program at Maharishi School.

Christine Albers is Director of Expansion at Maharishi School.

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