Slow Food Chicago was instrumental in helping to build an edible schoolyard at the Dawes Elementary School in Evanston. The garden is not only an urban oasis, a visual testimony to Illinois’s prairie and farming roots, but an important and tangible learning tool for the students who have “class” in the garden each day.

And just recently, the Dawes school garden and its parallel wellness program were featured in the Evanston Roundtable.

This program is grounded in the Slow Food philosophy of supporting a biodiverse, sustainable food supply and bringing families back to the table. At the heart of the program is Taste Education.  Through learning, working, and eating in the garden, children are taught the importance of connecting their personal health to the soil, and to delicious food they’ve had a hand in producing.  In the garden they are part of an ecological approach to preserving natural food and natural prairie.   It all culminates with coming together at the garden table to savor the many pleasures of the fresh, seasonal food they’ve helped to grow.

Meet the schoolyard Master Gardener, Lynn Hyndman, in her own words.

Then enjoy some 4th-Grade impressions of the radical radish recipes they prepared.