School/Community Gardens

School Gardens

Health Environment Agriculture Learning Project (HEAL) is a unique, hands on, award-winning program that instills healthy lifestyle habits in elementary school children while inspiring environmental and agricultural awareness through a comprehensive, interactive curriculum.  Thanks to consistent support from Kaiser Permanente, the Silicon Valley Community Foundation and the Hatch Parent Teacher Organization, HEAL will benefit over 600 students in the Cabrillo Unified School District in San Mateo County this year. 

Collective Roots posts information about events in East Palo Alto (EPA) at the EPA Charter School's Garden, and offers resources, news, tips on how to start a farmers' market and much more.

Valley of Hearts Delight works in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. They host educational speakers, publicize local food news and events, support local gardens, and bring fresh local produce to schools.

The Edible Schoolyard, in collaboration with Martin Luther King Junior Middle School in Berkeley, CA, provides urban public school students with a one-acre organic garden and a kitchen classroom.  Site describes how they started their garden and includes classroom lessons, kitchen lessons, and more.

Learn more about their curricula and project at The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) section on Nutrition Education-Gardening with Children includes information about gardening with children and has links to many sites about how to start gardens in schools or child care centers.

Kidsgarden features stories about successful garden programs, grants, classroom activities and more. 

Community Gardens

Pacifica Gardens is a community garden site is a level parcel of land on the grounds of the former Linda Mar School. As a partnership with the City of Pacifica and the San Francisco Botanical Garden's Adult Education Program, the garden will be a demonstration center for biointensive gardening and permaculture techniques. Pacifica Gardens will be both an educational experience and a source of food and jobs for the local community.

Full Circle Farm in Sunnyvale, CA

Sustainable Agriculture

UC Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program defines sustainable agriculture

Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture (CUESA) describes what is sustainable agriculture.

American Planning Association's Policy Guide on Community and Regional Food proposes seven policies that planners can support related to sustainable food systems.

Prevention Institute published Cultivating Common Ground: Linking Health and Sustainable Agriculture.

As the first Food System Alliance in California, the San Mateo Food System Alliance has sought to bring together all the parts of the San Mateo County food system into a cohesive group capable of creating an ever healthier and more vibrant local food economy.

The Ag Futures and Food System Alliance movement is project to bring together food producers, consumers, local leaders, health care advocates, and environmentalists to work at county-level action to create a food system that matches our hopes and dreams for the future.

Slow Food Nation is a subsidiary non-profit of Slow Food USA and part of the international Slow Food movement. It was created to organize the first-ever American collaborative gathering to unite the growing sustainable food movement and introduce thousands of people to food that is good, clean and fair. Slow Food Nation is dedicated to creating a framework for deeper environmental connection to our food and aims to inspire and empower Americans to build a food system that is sustainable, healthy and delicious.

Urban and Environmental Policy Institute published Supporting Local Agriculture and Improving Health Care.

United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Services published Small Farms/School Meals Initiatives.  This step-by-step guide describes how to bring small farms and local schools together.

Community Food Security Coalition provides general information about farm-to-school programs.

As Fresh As It Gets program in San Mateo County offers awards to restaurants that use local, fresh produce. It also holds ongoing events in the community. This website includes information about award recipients. 

Farmers' Markets

San Mateo County certified farmers’ markets

San Mateo County produce and fish calendar and market/farm locations.

Local Food Source Guide was created for the Palo Alto food shed. Information on where Bay area farmers' markets obtain their produce including distance from farms to markets and location of farms.

Eating Sustainably Guide describes the food resources in the San Francisco Peninsula and the South Bay with some information on food resources in San Francisco and the East Bay. Includes information such as location of farmers' markets, organic community supported agriculture farms, organic produce delivery services, grocery stores, local organic food brands, and more.

East Palo Alto Farmers' Market

School Food

Fast Food in California’s High Schools: Popular, Profitable, Contributing to Teen Obesity?

Cafeteria Facilities, Often Overlooked, Yet Key to Student Nutrition and Health

Healthy Schools Framework - Criteria for Developing a Healthier School Environment

Better Nutrition and More Physical Activity Can Boost Achievement and Schools' Bottom Line

Interested in learning how your classroom can celebrate holidays and birthdays in a healthy way or in a food free way?  Click here to learn more. 

What do principles think about student nutrition, physical education, nutrition education, and other school issues? Click here to read the results of one survey.

What do students think about nutrition and physical activity?  Read results from one survey here. 

Fresh fruits and veggies in convenience stores

Fact sheets in English and Spanish describe  "8 steps to get more fruits and vegetables in your neighborhood," explaining how general plans can set the "ground rules" for where grocery stores, farmers markets, and other sources of healthy fruits and vegetables are located.

To learn more about the built environment, or how the development and use of land affects health, click here.