Over in Montgomery County, MD, we've been fighting a ban in the public schools on putting in vegetable gardens at all. Civic organizations, Master Gardeners, and the Parks Dept. have been countering the issues raised about liability and maintenance, and we hope for a positive outcome. Details at http://www.montgomeryvictorygardens.org/ who are leading the effort. Thanks for bringing up this issue! I do think if children grow produce they should get to eat it.

There is only one reason that schools would be resistant to free, organic produce and that is their unholy allegiance to large agri-business companies like Monsanto. Monsanto has infiltrated virtually every level of government assuring politicians that regardless of what dire effects genetically modified products and chemicals have on the populous they'll keep the money flowing to the bureaucrats.

I can understand the strict guidelines for cafeteria food, but the cultural and educational objections? I don't get. Many garden professionals like, designers, growers, retailers, architects, etc, use math and reading in their profession. To me it seems a great way to apply what you learn in school, if teachers are making that connection of course.

I think both restrictions are absurd. Yes you are showing kids that they can grow their own food, but then you are telling them that it's not good for consumption. Instead eat this crap. Have you seen most school lunches?

The cultural objections are even more ridiculous. Growing, harvesting and producing food is far from a low level job. It's a necessity for us humans to live. You know what kind of job isn't necessary for humans to live....look around there are plenty of them.

The school year is built around the agricultural system, so that kids could have off for the summer to help harvest crops.

We have become so far disconnected from our food source. It's ridiculous.

Growing food is very educational. It encompasses science (growth cycle, difference between healthy and unhealthy food), social-studies (Where does food come from?, Place of agriculture in our society, the way different cultures prepare different types of food), Math (measuring plant growth, measuring ingredients when cooking) and reading/ writing/technology (researching how plants will grow best/ which plants they might want for the garden and how to care for them and then writing about what they have learned both in their research and through observation.) And even in that vein there are tons of things they can do to incorporate writing into this activity. This shows yet again how many people not only have no imagination, but also have no idea what they are talking about.

As for not wanting to do it for cultural reasons, really? What kind of idiots actually think that planting some greenbeans is going to insult people because it will remind them of slave days. Yet another example of how the PC police are idiots.

gardening sends the wrong message to minority students whose parents might be farm workers or whose ancestors might have been slaves

Seriously???? Well my goodness, then why allow them to eat vegetables at all, oh the horror! Better they should eat overly processed foods and compromise their health than offend someone? Who thinks this stuff up? I think their free time would be better spent...oh, I don't know...working in a school or community garden??