Footprint Gardens

In the spring of 2009, FoodShare's Field to Table Schools (FTTS) program, with support from the Ministry of the Environment, launched 10 footprint shaped gardens at schools across Toronto.

These gardens, accompanied with a series of community workshops, are designed to create a garden-based environment for exploring both the ecology of our food choices and climate change.

Why The Footprint Shape?

The Eco-Footprint* and the school food garden are two well-established tools for fostering environmental stewardship at the individual, local, and global levels.
At FTTS we have combined both, applying the Eco-Footprint to the physical and pedagogical design of the garden classroom. The Footprint Gardens are shaping up to be an exciting place to inspire students, teachers, and the surrounding community to take small steps toward food sustainability.

FTTS is here to support the school-communities in taking on the challenge of creating a successful garden rich in educational fruit and able to offer a unique nutritional experience!

For this reason, FTTS will deliver six distinct workshops in line with The Footprint Garden vision. These workshops will cover six major stewardship themes that relate food security, climate change, and practical knowledge for maintaining a sustainable school food-garden.

These themes are:

• Composting
  
• Water Conservation
  
• Local Food in the Community
  
• Organic Gardening
  
• Trees: Natures Tools for a Healthy Climate
  

At each toe of the Footprint Garden will be placed a sign to highlight the individual themes listed above.

**The final theme comprises the garden's overall purpose and core vision (its soul). As such, a sixth sign aptly placed in the 'sole' of the foot will illuminate the value of The Footprint Garden in facilitating the individual and cultural transformation of our food system.

Stay in touch with FTTS to find out more about The Footprint Gardens and/or other ongoing initiatives at Foodshare that empower people to bring good and healthy food into their school-communities.

Footprint Gardens in the Media:

Food for Thought: Reading, Writing, Growing (Toronto Star) http://www.foodshare.net/media_archive96.htm