Eugene Patron, he-who-knows-all-about-Prospect-Park, sent this cool story about the students of the Brooklyn Academy of Science and the Environment, who harvested healthy food for the school cafeteria.

Who says young adults don’t like to eat their vegetables?  The “locavore” food movement doesn’t get more local than across the street!

The Sustainable Agriculture class of the Brooklyn Academy of Science and the Environment (BASE) – Brooklyn’s first environmental high school –- grew organic vegetables that were offered last week during lunch to their BASE schoolmates, along with students of three other local high schools, serving almost 1,000 enthusiastic diners in all.   All this season, BASE students grew, then harvested the vegetables in Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s (BBG) world-renowned Children’s Garden.  The special luncheon also gave members of the sustainable agriculture class the opportunity to explain to their peers about the farming techniques they used to grow the delicious, organic vegetables.

The special “Garden to Cafeteria Harvest Day” at BASE coincided with the New York State’s Department of Agriculture & Market’s “New York Harvest for New York Kids Week” (www.prideofny.com/farm_to_school.html).

The BASE Sustainable Agriculture class aims to expose students to basic agricultural topics such as soil science and botany, as well as explore issues of food production: natural versus industrial cycles, environmentally sustainable practices and perspectives, and food justice themes such as food systems and accessibility. Students receive a hands-on learning experience at BBG’s Children’s Garden where they learn agricultural skills such as how to prepare crop beds, protect their crops and use drip irrigation. The Sustainable Agriculture class is indicative of the kind of “real world” research students at BASE experience by working not only with the school’s own faculty, but also through frequent interaction with Brooklyn Botanic Garden scientists and Prospect Park naturalists.