Virginia school turns lawn into garden

ARLINGTON, Va. — Seven-year-old Laura Sawicki inspects her salad cautiously.

“I don’t really like to eat vegetables at home,” the first-grader confides.

But these are not just any vegetables. The lettuce for Laura’s salad comes from her school’s front yard and from the yards of more than 100 people living around Ashlawn Elementary in Arlington, Virginia. She and her classmates helped plant the seeds, monitored their growth and made sure they got enough water and sunlight.

Knowing all the work that went into her salad, Laura spears a lettuce leaf with her spork and takes a tentative bite.

The verdict? “It’s a little chewy, but not that chewy. It tastes really good.”

Laura munches on a second sporkful of salad.

“And I like it because my school helped grow it,” she adds.

Those are exactly the words Joan Horwitt wants to hear. She’s the mastermind behind the Lawns 2 Lettuce 4 Lunch program, which coordinates the planting of thousands of lettuce plants in yards around the neighborhood each spring and fall. Each grade at Ashlawn has a different responsibility in caring for the plants: For example, second-graders charted the growth of the lettuce and fourth-graders prepared the soil.

Horwitt started the program four years ago hoping to convince kids such as Laura that healthful foods can be both tasty and fun.

“When you’ve seen the process from start to finish, it makes an impression on you,” Horwitt says. “There’s a story connected with the food, something that makes it special, so you’re more willing to try it.”

In the Ashlawn cafeteria, students, teachers and volunteers are celebrating the end of two months of hard work with a “salad fiesta.” All the lettuce grown this fall — more than 50 pounds of leaves — has been washed, chopped and mixed with 12 toppings and a dressing