School gardens get the nod in Senate nutrition proposal

An article in January 2010 The Atlantic magazine,"Cultivating Failure," by Caitlin Flanagan (at right, yes, really) created a furor among teachers, kids, and foodies, but  evidently  they needn't have worried: Congress wasn't listening -- or, more specifically, Senator Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), chair of the Senate Agricultural Committee, who today unveiled her wish list for the reforms in the reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act (she calls her proposal: The Healthy, Hungry-Free Kids Act of 2010): among many suggestions, she lists as key to curbing the child obesity epidemic: bringing children closer to the farm, advocating legislation -- and mandatory funding -- "to establish school gardens and to help schools source local foods into school cafeterias."