SCHOOL GARDEN AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

According to FAO the purpose of environmental and nutritional education at school is to enhance awareness in children to value nutritional properties of food. In this fast paced changing world, children need to be able to discriminate between eating healthy and not. By teaching students farming techniques, to cultivate family or school gardens we try to reverse this challenge and empower students to make the right choices.

This research is carried out as part of the PhD in Agricultural Education in the Autonomous University of Chapingo (UACh), it analyses the possibility of implementing a school garden program and environmental education in preschool level in the community of San José Texopa, Municipality of Texcoco State of Mexico. Moreover, it is aligned with the proposal of the Ministry of Public Education (SEP), which thrives to get children interested in natural phenomena and characteristics of living beings, via experiments to involve them in activities to develop favorable attitudes towards environment (2011).

66 children of the third year of preschool and their parents were the sample of this study. This population is mainly from Nahuatl origin and their main occupation is the handicraft of Pre-Hispanic figures. This community preserves its traditions and mainly in their government organization, “charges system” (sistema de cargos) mainly divided in juridical and religious hierarchy. This fact is why, in the fist place, through dialogue, we generated trust and reliance on the population by informing about the benefits of a healthy and varied diet.

As methodology we decided that the participatory active research approach (Astier et al., 2000) was the best choice as it allowed us to carry out semi-structured interviews and participative observation. At the same time, it showed the environmental, social and economic impact of yielding garden produce and how to sustain a school garden. We took FAO handbooks as a basic tool as they promote learning through school gardens to improve health education and food security of students and their families. Likewise, this project has promoted unity in families.

Participation of schools, parents and students was higher than expected, as 70% of the parents who were interviewed manifested their interest of taking part in the project. Only 35% of the interviewees considered they were acquainted to the benefit of a school garden, another relevant fact is that 70% of the sample were women dedicated to housework.