Chapter 6: Small Changes With Deep Roots: Social Entrepreneurship and School Gardens

In a world where today’s realities can lead to an overwhelming sense of despair, what are we to do as educational leaders to create meaningful change? For me—and many others throughout the country—one answer is to grow food with children. From Brooklyn to Houston, a revolution is taking place that transforms schoolyards into edible landscapes for learning (Turner, Sandoval, & Chaloupka, 2014). The conversion of asphalt and manicured lawns into biologically diverse gardens allows schools to serve as a living laboratory for a multitude of lessons to blossom. The living soil becomes the ground in which conversations about ecological interconnectedness, social inequality, and alternative economic possibilities take root and bloom (Williams & Brown, 2012).