Environmental Justice in an East Palo Alto School Garden

In 2006-2007, Collective Roots partnered with the Stanford Medical School Population Health Program, working with Stanford medical students Kristen Whitaker, Nina Patel, Jen Hong, and Elizabeth Goldsmith. The results of these students work is featured in this online version

The East Palo Alto community suffers disproportionately from asthma, obesity and cancer, falls far behind the rest of the country in meeting Healthy People 2010 standards, and has historically suffered environmental distress. At the East Palo Alto Charter School, 87% of students qualify for the free and reduced price lunch program; the city has no supermarket selling fresh produce.

Collective Roots maintains a school garden at the EPA Charter School. Students manage the garden, prepare meals from its plants, and follow a garden based learning curriculum. In July, 2006, toxins were released in the area as a result of an industrial accident at a nearby waste handling facility, and this was a cause for alarm and great concern in the community. Many worried about the possible impact on the school garden and surrounding environment, and measures were taken to ensure that children were not exposed to risks associated with that incident. Collective Roots seeks more information about plant toxin uptake and agriculture in polluted areas, as well as about the documented impact of organic nutrition on human health.

With the assistance of Stanford students, Collective Roots has compiled research on the impact of organic foods on health and nutrition, and on soil toxicology and testing, to help Collective Roots with its applications for funding, garden management, and curriculum design.

The research resulting from this work summarizes current literature on the relationship between consumption of organic produce and health adds scientific credibility to Collective Roots value in the community. The research also produced an annotated bibliography, summarizing research and local expert opinion on soil testing protocols and analysis—as well as our soil testing manual—supporting Collective Roots’ efforts to protect local gardens from future environmental pollutants. This material is incorporated into Collective Roots’ school curriculum that includes developing young leaders who care about environmental justice.

You may view an online version of this research by clicking here.

As future health professionals, the Stanford Medical students were able to serve as a bridge between the community and the body of scientific evidence about organics and environmental determinants of health, such as soil toxicity and urban pollution. The Stanford Population Health Program has made a remarkable contribution toward assisting Collective Roots in establishing a replicable and sustainable model of an organic school gardening in urban settings.