Learning how to cook is one of the most valuable skills you can ever obtain.  These skills were once passed down from generation to generation, but now millions of people lack even the most basic skills — as a result, it’s costing millions of lives and billions of dollars to cope with the increase in diet-related diseases. We need to get back to basics and share our cooking skills and knowledge so that everyone has access to good, nutritious food from scratch.

Food Revolution Day is a global day of action for people to make a stand for good food and essential cooking skills. It’s a chance for people to come together within their homes, schools, workplaces, and communities to cook and share their kitchen skills, food knowledge and resources. Food Revolution day aims to raise awareness about the importance of good food and better food education for everyone.

Eco-Schools USA, through our Sustainable Food and Healthy Living pathways, are proud to support and participate in Food Revolution Day.

What can you do for Food Revolution Day at school: 

• Get students excited about fresh produce by planting fruit and vegetable seeds on the day.  Cress is a nice and easy starting point, as well as lettuce or tomatoes.
  

  Food Revolution Day

• Download the Food Revolution Day Yogurt Pops recipe and give students a healthy dessert idea by showing them how to whip up the ingredients and freeze them in plastic molds.  Click the link to find other recipe ideas.
• Bring different fruits and vegetables into class and get students to taste them and guess what they are.  If they’re older get them to do a blind taste test.  Also discuss seasonality of fruits and vegetables – eating seasonally is a good thing – produce tends to be cheaper and tastier and it’s better for the environment!
• Arrange a tour of the local farmer’s market.
• Utilize the tools found at our Eco-Schools USA Food Revolution Day page.
• Need more ideas? Check out this Food Revolution Day School Ideas Google Hangout.

Watch and join Jamie Oliver along with millions all over the world in the fight for REAL FOOD!

Click here to view the embedded video.

A guest post from the Food Revolution Day team in the UK!

NWF: Inexcusable for EPA Nominee to be Denied Fair Vote

May 9- Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Republicans announced a boycott of today’s hearing on the confirmation of Gina McCarthy as Environmental Protection Agency administrator.

Larry Schweiger, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, said on Thursday:

“Given Gina McCarthy’s long record of non-partisan public service, it’s inexcusable for her nomination to be politicized by senators prioritizing industrial polluters over public health protection. She’s answered every question put to her and her record of protecting America’s wildlife, clean air and water, and public lands is rock-solid. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee should set aside partisanship and instead serve the American people by giving Gina McCarthy the clean up-or-down confirmation vote she deserves.”

Take Action to support a speedy decision.

Sportsmen Back Sensible Fracking Regulations

May 8 – As the Interior Department prepares to release new federal fracking regulations, a sportsmen’s coalition is urging officials to make sure the rules will adequately protect air and water quality, fish and wildlife.

The update to oil and gas drilling methods on federal and tribal lands is the first in about 30 years, Sportsmen for Responsible Energy Development noted Tuesday. Meanwhile, the process of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” has significantly changed, opening previously inaccessible land to development.

“The reality is the technology and methods have changed since the original rule was put in place. Today, millions of gallons of fluids and chemicals are injected underground at high pressure,” said Brad Powell, Senior Policy Director for Trout Unlimited’s Sportsmen Conservation Project. “We know there are a lot of good companies doing the right thing. But it’s critical to have safeguards in place. We can’t run the risk of contaminating groundwater or surface water and endangering people, fish and wildlife.”

Learn more about the negative environmental effects of hydraulic fracturing here.

National Wildlife Federation Expert Appointed to New Committee on Climate Change and Natural Resources

May 8 – The National Wildlife Federation’s Director of Climate Change Adaptation, Dr. Bruce Stein, has been selected to serve as a member of the newly-established federal Advisory Committee on Climate Change and Natural Resource Science by Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell.

“We urgently need to understand how climate change will impact wildlife and their habitats, so that we can take appropriate actions to enhance their chances for survival,” said Stein. “The Department of the Interior is working hard to improve the scientific basis for wildlife conservation in an era of global warming, and I am honored to have been invited to serve on this new Advisory Committee.”

“Responding to climate change and its effects on our natural and cultural resources is an important priority for the nation,” said Secretary Sally Jewell. “This committee embodies our commitment to working closely with our partners to strengthen our efforts to develop sound science that will help inform policymakers, land managers and the public in making important resource management decisions.”

The new committee will provide guidance on the Interior Department’s climate change adaptation science initiatives, including the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Climate Change and Wildlife Science Center and the recently established Department of Interior Climate Science Centers.

Read Bruce Stein’s profile and learn more about NWF’s climate-smart conservation work.

Senator Chambliss Honored for Farm Bill Conservation Leadership

May 8 – Georgia Wildlife Federation, the state’s oldest and largest conservation organization, and National Wildlife Federation, the nation’s largest conservation organization, today recognized U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) in his Capitol Hill office with a Conservation Service Award for his leadership in promoting natural resource conservation in the Farm Bill. Presenting the award were Todd Holbrook, president and CEO of Georgia Wildlife Federation and Matt Nichols, chairman of GWF, with Jim Lyon, vice president for Conservation Policy for National Wildlife Federation.

In presenting the award, Holbrook cited Senator Chambliss’ leadership in last year’s Farm Bill floor debate, when the Senator successfully sponsored an amendment to re-attach basic natural resource protections to crop insurance premium subsidies. The protections—called conservation compliance—require subsidy recipients to forgo draining wetlands (Swampbuster) or farming highly erodible lands without a soil conservation plan (Sodbuster).

“Senator Chambliss’ leadership on this issue has been critical to protect our natural resources and Georgia taxpayers’ wallets,” said Holbrook.

Click here to learn more about the Farm Bill and how it effects America’s wildlife habitats.

Planting the Seeds for Gardening With Kids

May 8- Spring isn’t just a beautiful time to enjoy the outdoors, it is also a great time to get outside with your kids and start your own family garden. A new guide, titled “Get Your Family’s Garden Growing”released by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) shows just how easy and fun it can be to garden with your kids. The new guide is part of the National Wildlife Federation’s Be Out There movement and is being released in celebration of May is Garden for Wildlife Month.

Report: Advancing Landscape-Scale Conservation in North America’s Coastal Temperate Rainforests

May 6- North America’s resource managers and conservation practitioners protect and preserve our lands, waters, and wildlife in the face of land use change, development pressure, and now, climate change. To help ensure our resource managers and conservationists will be able to protect and preserve the places and wildlife we cherish in light of climate change, National Wildlife Federation worked with the North Pacific Landscape Conservation Cooperative (NPLCC) and University of Washington Climate Impacts Group to identify climate change-related challenges, needs, and opportunities for conservation in North America’s coastal temperate rainforests and coasts. The 195 resource managers, conservation practitioners, and researchers we engaged requested four types of support to address the challenges they face: decision-support systems and tools; collaboration and other capacity-building activities; new or different science, data and information; and, science communication and outreach.

Download the full report: Advancing Landscape-Scale Conservation: An Assessment of Climate Change-Related Challenges, Needs, and Opportunities for the NPLCC (pdf)

Read the Wildlife Promise blog: 4 New Insights for Climate-Smart Conservation

And now here are highlights from NWF in the news:

• ABC News: Hiking With Babies and Tots: Trail Options Grow
• NPR: Big Ag Agrees to Conserve Cropland, But At What Cost?
• Fairfax Times: Middle schooler wins national youth environmental reporting award
• Port Clinton News Herald: More massive algal blooms likely
• Times-Picayune: Using the Mississippi River to rebuild Louisiana’s coast: David Muth
• Sierra Sun Times: Ranger Rick and The National Wildlife Federation Visit Sierra Foothill Charter School
• Denver Post: Creek spill an overdue wakeup call
• North Country Public Radio: NWF expands challenge to new invasive rules
• Journal-Sentinel: Wildlife Federation sues to allow New York state to toughen ballast standards

For more visit www.nwf.org/news

Students at Copper Mesa Elementary School raise the school’s Eco-Schools USA Green Flag. Photo by Judith Kohler

“Way to go Cougars!” a student at Copper Mesa Elementary in Highlands Ranch exclaimed as the gym full of students cheered.

The occasion was a kind of pep assembly at the Denver-area school, but it was unlike any pep assembly I remember attending. The kids weren’t cheering for a sports team; they were excited about earning a Green Flag, the highest honor in the Eco-Schools USA program. The students didn’t sing the school fight song; they recited Copper Mesa’s “eco-code.”

“You’re part of an elite group of schools and students,” said Ann Morgan, executive director of the National Wildlife Federation’s Rocky Mountains and Prairies Regional Center.

Ann Morgan, executive director of the regional NWF office, presents a Green Flag to Flagstone Elementary School.

The two Douglas County schools are the first in Colorado to earn Green Flags and as of April 25, were just the 14^th and 15^th nationwide.

Students at both schools were clothed in several different shades of green to mark the special day. During an outdoor assembly, Flagstone students waved green paper flags attached to pencils. Parents stood around the outside of the group, taking pictures and clapping along with the kids when the Eco-Schools flag was hoisted up the flagpole.

The raising of the Green Flags followed a lot of work by students and school staffs. Copper Mesa has saved more than 127,000 kilowatt hours of electricity the past three years with the help of energy audits. The school has saved about $400 by using both sides of copy paper and decreased trash pick-ups from five to two days a week.

Flagstone has reduced the amount of waste left from school lunches. The school provides vegetables for the community from its garden and has built and located bluebird houses to enhance the birds’ population.

Flagstone Elementary studets cheer as their school is awarded the Green Flag. Photo by Judith Kohler

“They found I left my light on once and they haven’t let me forget it,” she said.

Members of Copper Mesa’s student “Green Team” said the work has been worth it.

“We’ve had to be like a team,” 10-year-old Hailey Merrill said. “It’d be really cool if all the other schools could do it, too.”

PS57′s tiniest Green Team members celebrate Earth Day in the garden.  

NWF’s Eco-Schools USA program is aligned with the USED Green Ribbon Schools program. In 2012, one quarter of all Green Ribbon Schools were also registered Eco-Schools. Eco-Schools USA’s seven step framework and program “Pathways” support all three of the Green Ribbon pillars.  To win both the federal Green Ribbon and the Eco-Schools Green Flag, PS 57’s students and faculty tackled a number of sustainability initiatives, including reducing their building’s energy use by 25%, teaching students about climate change and renewable energy, and creating composting, recycling, gardening, robotics, and ecology programs. The composting and recycling efforts have diverted 30% of the school’s waste and kept more than 10,000 pounds of paper and milk cartons out of landfills.

PS 57 students grow fruits and vegetables for the school’s cafeteria in the garden.  Flowers are grown in the greenhouse, which students built out of 1,500 recycled plastic bottles.  The structure is “lined” with netting so butterflies can be released inside it.

On Earth Day, NYC Staten Island Parks Department staff and rangers were on hand to deliver free soil and help PS 57 students plant hundreds of native plugs and grasses donated to the school by American Beauties Native Plants company, an NWF partner. PS 57′s 5th graders transported soil to the garden in wheelbarrows, pre-Kindergarteners dug in the dirt, and 2nd through 5th graders planted in pots and watered. Native grasses were planted in Eibs Pond — a 17-acre wetland park across from the school where students care for trees, conduct summer pond clean-ups, and collect water quality data for the U.S. EPA.

NWF Eco-Schools USA’s award program provides recognition for schools, like PS 57, that are modeling sustainability education. We know that there are many schools out there with fantastic green programs that deserve to be recognized for their achievements. If you are not a registered Eco-School yet, sign up online and begin tracking your progress towards certification on the fun and interactive Eco-Schools dashboard. If you think that your NYC school is, or could be, a Green Flag winner, I want to hear from you!  Please contact me at fanoe@nwf.org so we can arrange a tour of your school!

All photos: Emily Fano

Our climate is changing at an alarming rate, and as a nation our young people are not prepared to provide the solutions necessary to mitigate and safeguard our world’s biodiversity, growing population, agricultural and transit systems and more.  In a digital age, we are able to connect in new and innovative ways and collaborate and create like never before.

The National Wildlife Federation’s Green STEM Initiative is the result of a magnificent collision between environment-based education and STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics); creating a new system that will provide a national workforce that’s ripe with skilled, knowledgeable, innovative, and technologically savvy citizens.

 To prepare our young people for a future that’s vividly different and uncertain, America needs to remedy what is often described as the “leaking” STEM pipeline.

Educators are looking for real answers.  Green STEM is a practical way, through disciplined instruction and experiential work on environmental and sustainability subjects, to help students better understand and be given relevant opportunities to inquire, assess, design, build and foster innovative solutions to environmental challenges and related technological needs. Students who are exposed to programs that incorporate useful STEM education see the world in a holistic way, gain skills in the process of inquiry, become better problem-solvers and inventors who can utilize their knowledge of math, science and technology to design and engineer innovative solutions to serious problems.  NWF’s Eco-Schools USA is primed and ready to help teachers facilitate learning experiences in Green STEM throughout K-12 as they engage students in greening solutions by addressing the building’s needs inside and out.

Nearly 4 in 5 STEM college students say that they decided to study STEM in high school or earlier…almost 20 percent knew before they even entered high school.  Microsoft Corporation

In order to help move students more smoothly through the STEM pipeline the highly anticipated, debated, and newly released Next Generation Science Standards have been developed to prepare our students for a better future, a future where they can be scientifically literate, competitive, and successful.  Educators will find many welcomed changes:

• K-12 Science Education Should Reflect the Interconnected Nature of Science as it is Practiced in the Real World.
• The Science Concepts in the NGSS Build Coherently from K-12.
• The NGSS Focus on Deeper Understanding of Content as well as Application of Content.
• Science and Engineering are integrated in the NGSS, from K-12.
• The NGSS are designed to prepare students for college, career, and citizenship.

For more information regarding National Wildlife Federation’s Green STEM Initiative                             please follow the link or contact us at eco-schoolsusa@nwf.org

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Lesley Jones (left) and Laura Hickey (right) enjoy some sightseeing in Washington, D.C.

I was privileged to visit one of the USA’s first Eco-Schools, Churchill Road Elementary School in Fairfax County.  So much work is going on there to reduce waste, particularly food waste through composting and sharing as well as recycling and upcycling.  The children learn so much in practical ways through growing their own fruit and vegetables – it was very inspiring.

I was also very interested to learn more about the history and development of NWF from Kevin Coyle and Laura Hickey and spend time in their beautiful offices.  I managed to find time to take a walk in the woodlands around the office and was very excited to see a cardinal.  (We just don’t have such beautiful and colourful birds in the UK.)

I had such a great time and wonderful hospitality from Laura and NWF.  I hope I can visit again some day.

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We thank Lesley for her kind words and guidance in support of our programs!

Students locking up their bikes. Image courtesy of Nike

Bike Train

Since 2009 Jeff has worked with staff at Wolftrap Elementary to establish what is called a bike train. Once a month kids meet at Jeff’s house and bike 1.8 miles to school along a predefined route. They pick up additional riders along the way and use back roads to avoid congestion. The bike train has been going strong for four years, with students biking to school on cold January days when it is 18 degrees and snowy, and on hot June days when it is 85 degrees.

Recently Jeff has started working to expand the bike train program to other schools in the district. This past May he coordinated a Bike and Walk to School Challenge (now in its fifth year), encouraging schools to compete against each other by recruiting students to bike to school every day for a week. Awards were given to students at the seven participating schools.  Support for the challenge came from school board members, as well as INOVA (a local hospital system), the local transportation department, the police and a group of local bike racers. Jeff has also joined other schools on their bike trains and regularly attends PTA meetings to answer questions for schools looking to start a walking and biking program.

Image courtesy of Nike

Benefits

Bike Safety

When students participate in one of Jeff’s bike trains, they not only learn how to be comfortable on a bike, they also learn basic bike safety which is something not currently taught in Fairfax County Public Schools. “Through this program kids ultimately get to the point where they can bike on their own,” says Jeff. “And parents get over the fear factor they have about letting their kids bike to school.” In addition, Wolftrap Elementary School held a Bike Rodeo last spring for those kids who don’t get the opportunity to bike to school.

Congestion & Pollution

The bike train program also helps to decrease the number of parents who are driving their kids to school. When parents drop their kids off at school, it contributes to congestion and carbon emissions. A large number of students are within walking distance of the school so Jeff is working to encourage those kids to get out of the car.

Physical Fitness

Image courtesy of Nike

Start a Program

Here are some tips from Jeff for starting a bike train at your school:

• Start by recruiting a small group of kids and parents that you know at the school. It will be easier for you to enforce biking rules if you already have a good relationship with members of the group.
• Get the PTA and principal on board to help support the program.
• Establish and scout out a biking route ahead of time. Avoid major roads if possible.
• Don’t let backpacks and instruments be a barrier.  Recruit parents to drive those items to school or use an old kiddie trailer to haul the stuff.
• Require that kids already know how to ride a bike without training wheels. The focus should not be on teaching kids how to ride, but on teaching them how to be safe and comfortable on a bike.
• Participate in Bike to School Day! This is a great opportunity for students to feel that they are part of something that is happening at the national level.
• Don’t take “no” for an answer, and be prepared for complications at the school and district level as you work to get your bike train rolling.
• Visit the Eco-Schools USA website and learn how our transportation pathway can help support your bike train program.

Last autumn, I had the opportunity to introduce NWF’s Cool School Challenge (CSC) to schools throughout Whatcom County, Washington as part of a partnership with the Community Energy Challenge (CEC) and the EPA’s Climate Showcase Communities Grant. The schools I worked with were able to save energy, shrink their carbon footprint, and in return, protect the planet. It was very rewarding to observe students’ excitement about taking energy-saving action into their own hands.

Photo courtesy RESources

With regard to meeting current standards, 5th grade teachers found that since their “newest science kit is all about energy, the types, forms, transfers, etc… thinking about energy in our classroom, school, and homes was a great fit” (5th grade teacher). “Real-life connections work with math and science concepts,” said a 6th grade teacher. Many teachers were able to conduct the program in conjunction with their science curriculum as well as involve their entire school.

Photo courtesy RESources

Overall, teachers were excited about and satisfied with the program. “This was a great program that my kids really enjoyed” said one teacher. “(There was) lots of valuable material covered which affect all of us every day on Earth,” said another.

RE Sources for Sustainable Communities worked on the CSC/CEC partnership for 3 years. During that time, 18 schools in six Whatcom County Districts participated, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by an estimated 245,284 pounds.

This was such a successful program, and I really believe the students gained a lot more awareness about their use of energy and electricity, and how making simple changes in their lives can make a big impact.

The Cool School Challenge was developed by the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, and transferred over to the National Wildlife Federation so that it could be incorporated into the Eco-Schools USA program. The Eco-Schools USA program is part of the largest green school in the world, and aims at greening the school building, grounds, curriculum and student experience.

Learn more about Eco-Schools USA and how you can do the Cool School Challenge at your school!

Representatives from 22 countries gathered for the annual Young Reporters meeting in Malta in February 2013.

The meeting included representatives from 22 different countries (of 27 currently participating in the program). It provided an opportunity to share information and brainstorm ideas for continued development of the program. Some countries, including Cyprus, Portugal, and Morocco, have hosted YRE for a decade or more and have a wealth of experience to contribute. Others, including the United States, are in our inaugural year. In particular, we discussed how to better integrate YRE with Eco-Schools, the other FEE program that NWF hosts. There is excellent potential for Eco-Schools students at the middle and high school levels to investigate and report on issues related to their Eco-Schools work. Younger students could also report on their school’s projects, learning journalism techniques that will prepare them to enter the YRE competition in the future (YRE USA is open to youth ages 13–18).

Our meeting concluded with a workshop by expert nature photographer Dr. Mark Mifsud from the University of Malta. After demonstrating some techniques with examples from his own work, Dr. Mifsud sent us out into Xrobb L-Ghagin Nature Park to practice with our cameras. Back in the classroom, we each chose two photos for the group to consider and, in a speed-round of judging, used our new knowledge to identify the most successful shots. It was a fun exercise that will help all of us better understand the role of both students and jury in the YRE competition!

The Azure Window on Malta’s smaller island of Gozo, one of the most spectacular views I saw along the small country’s many miles of Mediterranean coastline.

The international aspect of YRE is a great strength and provides participants with a unique opportunity to take part in a truly global endeavor.  I greatly value the chance to connect with people from so many different countries all working toward a common goal of environmental awareness and action.

There are still a few more days until the March 15, 2013 deadline for the first annual YRE USA competition – it’s not too late to submit an entry!  Learn more about the program and find all the details for participating at yre-usa.org.

It was an unusually warm day in the greater Chicago region as I drove north towards Waukegan, IL in January. The temperature gauge in the car read 46 and it was only 7:30 in the morning. It was somewhat ironic that it was this warm, since I was on my way to present the Eco-Schools Green Flag award to the Cristo Rey St. Martin College Prep School(CRSMCP), who had been working for four years to reduce their environmental footprint, addressing such issues as energy use, climate change and waste reduction.

At 8 a.m. every Monday morning, CRSMCP comes together to share, learn and on this day to celebrate the tremendous strides they had made as a learning community in becoming more sustainable. This small, Catholic High School and their environmental club have been able to reduce their energy use by over 15% and their waste by over 50%. Over the past three years, CRSMCP has participated in the HSBC Eco-Schools Climate Initiative which is focused on developing a global network of schools actively participating in learning about climate change and finding ways to reduce carbon emissions and energy use in their schools and local communities.

CRSMCP Receives Green Flag Award – NWF

Academy of Global Citizenship

As the day progressed and I headed south towards Chicago, the temperature kept rising and instead of a cold, snowy and windy day which one would expect in late January in Chicago, it was mild and  sunny. I was heading south to visit and award another amazing school with the Green Flag Award, The Academy of Global Citizenship (AGC) a charter school in south Chicago.

Over the past four years, AGC has worked with NWF’s Eco-Schools USA, and  Schoolyard Habitat programs, the HSBC Eco-Schools Climate Initiative, and the Wrigley’s Litter Less Campaign to reduce their carbon footprint. Students at AGC spend over two hours a week outside in their gardens and outdoor learning classrooms, collecting eggs and vegetables and composting their breakfast and lunch waste. To date the Academy had diverted over 14,000 pounds of waste from the landfill and have a zero-waste breakfast and lunch program. They also have been able to reduce their carbon emissions by 17.8 tons!

As Dan Schnitzer, Director of Sustainability and Operations points out, “Our work on sustainability and our time outdoors is central to our curriculum. We use the natural world as a lens to learn and inspire and enable our students to take positive actions toward a more sustainable future.”

AGC Green Flag Award – NWF

Congratulations to both of these NWF Eco-Schools USA Green Flag Schools!

To resgister to become an NWF Eco-School or to learn more about the  program check out our website at: www.eco-schoolsusa.org