3FOOD

Third Industrial Revolution Consulting Group
more food, while building the soil up to 60 times faster than in nature, if properly used, and
reducing by half or more the amount of land needed. 162
School Gardens
The education system at all age levels offers a valuable focal point for engaging youth about the
food system. It is a well-observed social phenomenon that young start-up enterprises are
mainly comprised of youthful entrepreneurs. These savvy pioneers have been growing up with
the growth of IoT technologies, social media, and collaborative innovation networks, naturally
absorbing this radically new (wireless, mobile, social networking) technological infrastructure.
Schools are comprised of buildings, grounds, and a flow of materials and resources that
constitute learning laboratories for students to engage in applied learning experiments.
Contests, software games, and the creation of apps are modes of engaging students, faculty
and administrators in participating as producers, users, and prosumers.
Gaining experience in the art and practice of gardening ranks as one of the finest applied
learning opportunities, opening a potentially life-long interest in healthy food cultivation,
whether pursued as a career or a recreational past time.
When children start kindergarten in many parts of the world, they have their first educational
experience growing and tending a small garden of plants. It is an educational tool and often a
voluntary part of the elementary school curriculum. Mobile apps and Internet platforms
enabling peer-to-peer interaction, and collaborative innovation initiatives, can greatly enrich
this experience.
Gardens as Biological Textbooks – An Original Circular Economy
Data Source: Jeavons (2012) 163
162 Grow Biointensive web site, http://www.growbiointensive.org/index.html.
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