Alice Waters And Jake Gyllenhaal On 'Today' Show For Edible Schoolyard (VIDEO)

On Tuesday morning, in celebration of Chez Panisse's 40th anniversary, the Today show's Jenna Bush Hager — yes, that Jenna Bush — paid a visit to The Hunters Point Boys & Girls Club Edible Schoolyard to talk shop with Alice Waters and a special guest: Hollywood heartthrob Jake Gyllenhaal.

(SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO)

Since 1996, the Chez Panisse Foundation has championed the Edible Schoolyard — an organic garden and kitchen project that teaches students about health, ecology and sustainable food systems — at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School in Berkeley. And now, Edible Schoolyards are spreading to San Francisco, New York, New Orleans and other cities. Gyllenhaal, a devout social activist and environmentalist, joined the Chez Panisse Foundation board last year, and has since used his star status to spread the word.

"I grew up around gardens, growing my own food, and that was a real source of community growing up," said Gyllenhaal to Bush Hager. "More than anything, I really got to know my mother and father and my sister, and they got to know me at the dinner table."

In the segment, students worked in the garden with Gyllenhaal, before hauling the harvest into the kitchen to cook with Waters. Bush Hager asked Waters about the changes she's noticed in the students over the course of the program: "They really feel kind of empowered," she explained. "When kids grow it and cook it, they all want to eat it."

Case in point: students at the project are shown harvesting, cooking and eating kale, carrots, cucumbers and other vegetables at a community table. In the video, Waters encouraged parents of all socioeconomic backgrounds to ask questions about what their children are being served at school. "It's really important that we speak up," she said.

The overall goal? To someday have an edible schoolyard in every school.

Watch Waters, Gyllenhaal and the Edible Schoolyard Project on the Today Show below:

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CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story said the segment was filmed at the Edible Schoolyard in Berkeley. It was actually filmed at the Hunters Point Boys & Girls Club in San Francisco.

Comments

[makebofapay]

02:23 PM on 08/24/2011

I have been a big fan of Alice Waters for decades. She started the garden fresh food movement in her northern California restaurants after studying cooking in France and is now moving it into the schools here. It will take some time and most people are extremely resistant to the way they eat until they develop health problems because of bad eating habits. Fast poisonous food has to be phased out. Hooray for Alice and Jake!

[redshoe]

12:12 PM on 08/24/2011

Oh I would die to have edible gardens in the schools. Our school had a sign that said "Welcome back to our healthy lunches, which was corn dogs, fritos, mandarin oranges and juicee cup?? The next day will be nachos with meat sauce, and churro for dessert. Yum, sounds so healthy?

[frank day]

09:36 PM on 08/24/2011

Not so much. :0(

[BettyEverdene]

09:24 AM on 08/24/2011

Edible gardens are wonderful. Schools should be more creative on many levels, but they are fearful of creativity and stuck in curriculum. It really is shameful of our local governments who ignore these food wastelands in our inner cities especially. I noticed that convenience stores were the only food source for many people. When I complained about it to a certain food chain owner, I was told that rents and taxes were just too high in the areas where I wanted to put stores. I also noticed a relationship between 24 hour convenience stores, late night donut shops and junk food chains and local drug trade. Michelle Obama is trying to do something about this problem http://obamafoodorama.blogspot.com/2010/11/first-lady-announces-huge-goals-tool.html.

[Pippi-J]

01:11 AM on 08/24/2011

As a teacher who worked in a school with an edible garden, all I can say is I wish more schools did this, including the school I work in now, but I have moved to a state that does not always value the same philosophies more progressive areas in our country value. Believe me, an edible garden is very progressive for some!

Students benefit immensly from growing food. We used to use almost all the produce we could and had a hard time keeping berries from eaten on the sly by the children. We grew lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, all different kinds of berries and herbs and articokes. This also gave the children the oppertunity to try different types of foods and learn about where their food comes from.

For children in low economic environments, growing a garden is magical. Many of these children have never seen anything grow or understand how mother nature works. I hope we can fullfil Alice Waters vision.

[Mary Louise McGuirk]

04:42 AM on 08/24/2011

I couldn't agree more! Even though the projects were small, the kids LOVED their gardens. I worked in four different school districts over the last 18 years as a sub when my kids were small, and a music teacher for a few years recently. Only a few schools had any kind of garden project, but the ones that did were better for the effort. I would think that gardening should be an elective in any school in the country! It is certainly as rewarding as PE.