UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (2010)

Some of today's biggest crisis points are nutrition, the environment, livelihoods and education. In all these areas, school gardens are making a proven contribution to children's wellbeing, understanding and life prospects.

School gardens can help to

• provide healthy school meals
• generate income for school funds,

but they are primarily a platform for learning - learning how to

• grow food for a healthy diet,
• improve the soil,
• protect the environment,
• market food for profit,
• enjoy garden food ,
• and not least, advocate it to others.

There is strong evidence that classroom lessons and practical learning in the garden reinforce each other, indeed that often one does not work without the other. New garden projects and programmes are therefore making sure that the classroom curriculum finds room for garden-related learning about agriculture, nutrition and the environment.

FAO's manual Setting up and running a school garden (.pdf  5,1 MB) helps schools, governments and NGOs to establish gardens and to make them successful. The online Toolkit as a digital resource is a companion to the Manual.

The garden mix of theory, practice, enjoyment and ownership is a winning combination!

FAO website