With regard to the world ranking of pesticide consumption, Brazil is among the leading countries. Our country is also known for its permissive policies when it comes to these products.
In addition, recently a Bill that aims to loosen the rules that regulate the use of pesticides in Brazil rekindled the controversy regarding the damage of these substances to the body human.
These products, in addition to seriously harming the environment, contaminating the soil, water table and rivers, to name a few examples, can be very harmful to the human body.
Intoxication can happen, in the short, medium and long term, without science having been able to definitively establish what the damages are. It all depends on the product used and the exposure time.
However, what is known so far is that the numbers are alarming: it is estimated that in the world, all years more than 200 thousand people die due to problems generated by the indiscriminate use of pesticides.
Against the unbridled use of these substances, there are organic foods. These, in turn, are those produced without the use of synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers, that is, they only use natural substances in pest control and fertilization.
Thinking of providing students with practical knowledge about these issues, and many others, arises the school garden project, which aims to take advantage of unused spaces through the creation and maintenance of an organic food garden.
School Garden Project
Justification
In addition to finding a favorable environment at school, the project to create a vegetable garden allows for multidisciplinarity as a factor in the integration of knowledge and of the students themselves.
Another key point is that, in addition to occupying an idle physical space, the food produced can play a complementary role in school meals, if offered at school. It is also possible to encourage healthier eating habits and the preservation of the environment.
Goals
- Working on environmental education concepts;
- Awaken critical thinking in the student so that he can recognize himself as part of the environment, and also for this reason, it is necessary to preserve it;
- Use the space and cultivated foods to teach multidisciplinary classes on contents related to the garden in science, biology, geography and other relevant subjects;
- Encourage the adoption of good eating habits;
- Produce inputs that can complement school meals;
- Value teamwork;
- Raise awareness about the importance of organic food, not only for the health issue, but by the bias of economic importance, since they are mainly cultivated by small producers;
- Work the food growing process and all the variables that involve it;
- Encourage observation as a means of raising hypotheses and solving problems.
Development:
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The development of the school garden project will be done in a series of steps. In all of them, the integration between students and school teachers and other school professionals involved is important.
In all of them there is something that can be used as a source of learning for students. Soils, both measurement and preparation, climate, plant variety and irrigation are some of the topics that can be addressed.
1st Stage: Project Preparation
First of all, it is necessary to take care of the project elaboration. For this, it is possible to take this project as a base, just adapting it to the reality of each school.
2nd Step: Choosing the location
Once the project is ready and the entire school community is aware of the importance of the vegetable garden, the next step is to choose, within the school, the most suitable place for development.
In this place, it is necessary to take into account the presence of some factors, such as the space that allows a good execution of the project, suitable soil for plantations, nearby water source, high solar incidence, easy access for both teachers and students.
3rd Step: Choice of variety and proper soil preparation
Before starting planting, it is necessary to make sure that the soil is ready to receive planting. Here, it is also valid to prepare a project, or even a sketch, so that the place can be better used. At this stage, keeping in mind what will be planted can facilitate the process, as each type of plant is better suited to a type of space.
When choosing what to plant, it is necessary to take into account those products that are favorable the climate of the place, the seasonal ones, and also how they can be useful in learning the students.
Having chosen the varieties, it's time to prepare the beds, vases, boxes or any other type of place where the planting will take place.
4th Stage: Planting and maintenance
Following all the steps above, the next step involves planting the vegetables. There are some that are planted in seeds and others in seedlings, for each of them it is important to observe the proper procedure.
Once the planting stage is completed, the students, together with the teachers and staff in charge, will be responsible for the necessary care and monitoring of the garden.
When the harvest period arrives, the food can be sent to the kitchen and consumed, used as a way to complement the school lunch. If the school does not offer lunch, it is possible to think of other solutions, such as donating to philanthropic institutions, for example.
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