UC Davis and the School of Education Announce Collaboration With Chef and Food Advocate Alice Waters in Aggie Square

On Jan. 16, UC Davis Chancellor Gary S. May, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Ralph J. Hexter, and School of Education Dean Lauren Lindstrom joined chef and food advocate Alice Waters and Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg to announce an exciting new collaboration for Aggie Square: the Alice Waters Institute for Edible Education at UC Davis.

This new institute will bring together experts from across disciplines including education, health care, agriculture, policy and business to create new solutions for healthy, sustainable and equitable food systems. The School of Education will play a leading role, and Carlas McCauley, the School’s new Director of Research and Partnerships, will serve as the liaison.

“I am thrilled that Alice Waters will bring her expertise and commitment to Aggie Square,” May said. “Leaders at our School of Education and throughout UC Davis are eager to build on the Edible Schoolyard Project’s success to help students feel more connected to the food we eat. This will be a space for food education like no other.”

The collaboration participants have compiled an ambitious set of goals, including but not limited to:

• Benefit K-12 students via education, policy and community engagement, coupled with Waters’ aspiration to provide free, sustainable, healthy school lunches for all students
• Foster curricular development to support food-based learning and environmental stewardship across disciplines and at all levels of study
• Use gardens and kitchens as interactive classrooms for professional development of K-12 teachers and leaders, UC Davis faculty and students to teach lifelong food values and foster environmental stewardship
• Lead interactive, hands-on projects that support the sharing of best practices among K-12 educators, UC Davis faculty and students, and farmers, growers and ranchers who commit to sustainable practices for the land and their workers

“School of Education faculty, staff and students are excited to have the opportunity to be part of this collaboration,” said Lindstrom. “Our mission is about justice and educational equity for all youth. This is a perfect fit for the work that we already do at UC Davis and specifically in the School of Education.” To learn more about this new collaborative institute, visit the UC Davis News website or watch a livestream video of the announcement.