Grade 1 Edible Social Studies: Week 2

This week we learned about wild rice, or what the Ojibway call "manoomin”, a grass seed that has been harvested by indigenous people for 2,500 years in the lakes of what is now Minnesota. We read excerpts from the book The Sacred Harvest: Ojibway Wild Rice Gathering by Gordon Regguinti, which follows an 11-year-old boy named Glen who is out on the lake harvesting wild rice for the first time. We saw photos of Glen’s dad poling the canoe through the water, of parching the rice in a large iron kettle, of the jigging process where people put on soft leather moccasins and dance on the rice, and of Glen practicing winnowing the rice by tossing it in a large basket, which helps to separate the grain from the chaff.

In the kitchen we made a wild rice salad with rice grown by Chippewa Indians under the label Red Lake Nation. This rice naturally grows in the lakes and is still harvested and processed by hand today, unlike other wild rice that is artificially grown in paddies (often in California) and is sold at a much lower price.

Students washed and dried arugula, diced roasted squash, measured dried cranberries and toasted pumpkin seeds, chopped fresh herbs and green onions, and learned to make a well-emulsified salad dressing by adding in the olive oil drop by drop and whisking vigorously. Ms. Francis remarked in our closing circle she was surprised that something so nutritious could also taste so delicious. When we cook with and eat lake-harvested wild rice, we are connecting to an ancient food tradition that has sustained generations of people and we support the continuation of the Ojibway way of life.

Breakfast Around the World Week 2: China

In celebration of the Lunar New Year, we made dumplings called jiaozi this week, which Chinese people eat so they will possess longevity and wealth! Students started class by wrapping dumplings using pre-made filling, then filled bamboo steamers lined with cabbage leaves with their creations. While the dumplings steamed, we made the filling for the next day’s class. We diced tofu, sliced cabbage, minced shiitake mushrooms and cilantro, grated carrot and ginger, and pressed garlic. We made a simple dipping sauce with soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and a pinch of ground white pepper.

Many chefs expressed their hesitation to try something that contained mushrooms. But we’ve been working together with most of our students for many months, if not years, now, and the minute students tried the dumplings, they asked for seconds. Vegetarian and vegan dumplings such as these, with the right balance of texture and umami and sweetness, make for a healthy breakfast filled with vegetables kids might not otherwise find appealing. Happy Year of the Rat!

Grade 2 Edible Social Studies: Week 1

For 12 weeks, the second graders will be deepening their understanding of the role producers and consumers play in our economy. Their garden- and kitchen-based unit will culminate in their own student-run farmers market in early April! For our first class, students cared for the plants and animals that help our school garden thrive. They braved some wet weather and found earthworms to feed to the chickens, collected dead leaves, explored the dig zone, and enjoyed a seasonal garden snack of Moro blood oranges.

Grade 1 Edible Social Studies: Week 1

Before our first kitchen class this week, we visited Ms. Webb’s and Ms. Francis’s classrooms to read Norah Dooley’s book Everybody Cooks Rice and started to explore with the first graders how many different people make one nation. This week, we read The Ugly Vegetables by Grace Lin about a young girl and her mother, who, unlike the neighbors who grow beautiful flowers in their yards, grows Chinese vegetables in her garden. She cooks the vegetables into a delicious soup, which is then enjoyed by everyone in the neighborhood. The neighbors trade bouquets of flowers for bowls of the delicious soup, and the next season finds all the families on the block growing both Chinese vegetables and colorful flowers.

In celebration of the Chinese and Chinese-American food tradition covered in the book, we made fried rice featuring local, seasonal, not-at-all-ugly watermelon radish, bok choy, romanesco, carrots, purple cabbage, cilantro, and green onions. The first graders attacked their prep jobs with gusto, chopping vegetables, cracking eggs, and taking turns at the wok. Many had seconds and made us promise we’d send the recipe home. We hope you all make it, with whatever vegetables you like best!

Breakfast Around the World Week 1: Poland

We’re back in action for 18 weeks this semester with morning program students both old and new! This week our chefs made Polish potato pancakes known as placki ziemniaczane, though the basic concept is a part of many different food traditions around the world. Students started by grating Russet and Yukon Gold potatoes, combining them with grated onion, and squeezing as much moisture out of the mixture as possible so that the resulting pancakes would be crispy. They added ingredients to help bind the batter and add flavor, then fried the pancakes on both sides until golden brown. We served them with sour cream and applesauce. They were a hit, and we probably could have doubled the recipe and still run out!

Grades 4/5 Edible Social Studies: Week 14

For our final class of the semester, the fourth and fifth graders spent time caring for the school garden, reflecting on their hard work, and enjoying a hot cup of mulled cider in the outdoor classroom. We learned so much alongside our students over the past fourteen weeks and hope they continue to do what they can to fight climate change and use their voices to raise awareness about a sustainable food system.

Grade 3 Edible Social Studies: Week 14

For our final class, the third graders discussed the unique role San Francisco has played in the history of LGBTQ+ organizing and activism, from the Gold Rush to Allen Ginsberg and the Beat Generation to the creation of the pride flag to the fight for marriage equality in their own lifetime. We started our opening circle by helping each other define the words that make up the acronym LGBTQ+. We then watched a short film made by local high school students called Gay by the Bay: A Short History of San Francisco’s LGBTQ Culture. Something from the film that seemed to resonate with everyone was the call by the LGBTQ+ community in the 1970s to have its own symbol (what became Gilbert Baker’s flag) to replace the pink triangle used by the Nazis.

We learned that the six-striped pride flag commonly used today represents life (red), healing (orange), sunlight (yellow), nature (green), serenity (indigo), and spirit (violet). In the kitchen, we paid tribute to these six colors, what the pride flag represents, the Castro District, and of course, our school’s namesake, Harvey Milk, by making a parfait featuring seasonal fruit: pomegranate (red), Fuyu persimmon (orange), Keitt mango (yellow), kiwi (green), blueberries (indigo), and black currant jam (violet). We topped the parfaits with coconut yogurt and fresh mint.

We will miss the third graders, but can’t wait to work with them again next school year!

Breakfast Around the World Week 10: Sweden

This week our chefs made Harvey Milk parent Anna’s recipe for svenska pannkakor! Anna is originally from Sweden, and her pancakes include grated carrot. Working with large cast-iron skillets and the thin batter made flipping the pancakes while they were cooking a serious challenge, but we rose to the occasion.

Served with fresh whipped cream and lingonberry jam, the Swedish pancakes were a delightful, sweet ending to our fall semester. See you all back in the kitchen in 2020!

Grades 4/5 Edible Social Studies: Week 13

The posters Rooms 201, 202, and 205 made adorned the walls all around school this week—they looked amazing! You can really see how much work went into them. In addition to the poster campaign, students visited the kindergarten-through-third-grade classrooms and presented their own work (skits, raps, PowerPoint presentations) with the educational message of reducing food waste. The fourth and fifth graders led a Q&A session after their presentations, fielding questions like “What bin does a pizza box go into?” and “What do I do with plastic bags?” In our closing circle, students shared how it felt to make a connection with younger students and share what they’ve learned about how the food system and climate change intersect.

Grade 3 Edible Social Studies: Week 13

This week, we started where we left off last week during World War II and talked about the Second Great Migration, when millions of African Americans left the South and moved to urban areas around the country, including the Bay Area. In San Francisco, many found work at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard. 2019 marks the 400th anniversary of the first ships carrying enslaved people from Africa landing in Colonial America, and our discussion in large part centered around the legacy of slavery and how its effects are alive in and relevant to our city and nation today.

In our opening circle, students reflected on the terms “African American” and “Black,” sharing what they know and questions they have. We introduced the linguistic term “skunked,” which refers to a word that falls out of favor due to negative connotations that begin to be associated with it. This came up because we looked at the labels (e.g. “Negro,” “Mulatto,” “Quadroon,” “Octoroon”) used on the US census over the past century to categorize people of African descent.

We watched an excerpt from a short film called Point of Pride: The People’s View of Bayview/Hunters Point that tells the story of five Black women leaders and activists who successfully lobbied for millions of dollars in federal funding for safe housing in the Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood in the 1960s and 70s. The film includes a brief interview with HMCRA’s very own Keith Perry (Coach K), who was a beloved member of our school community before he passed away in 2017.

In the kitchen, students made a vegan version of a quintessentially African-American dish, collard greens. The tradition of eating leafy greens with their cooking juices originated in African countries, and collards were brought to North America by Europeans. In the plantation kitchens of the American South, enslaved cooks would serve their White masters the greens and reserve the nutrient-dense potlikker for their children. When we prepare collard greens, we remember the painful, complicated, truly American story they tell.

Breakfast Around the World Week 9: Jamaica

With grey, drizzly mornings all week, it was nice to get away to the Caribbean with our breakfast crew! Students made cornmeal porridge, a traditional breakfast from Jamaica, cooking it with coconut milk, cinnamon sticks, freshly grated nutmeg, and vanilla. We topped the porridge with tropical fruits both new and familiar. Most of our chefs had never worked with kiwano (horned melon) and feijoa (pineapple guava) before. Many were shocked that the spiky, bright orange horned melon revealed a mess of slimy green seeds that taste like cucumber inside.

Students also worked with banana, tropikiwi, and dried mango, papaya, pineapple, and coconut. A drizzle of condensed milk finished their presentation, and we listened to some Bob Marley while we ate. I hadn’t remembered he sings about cornmeal porridge in “No Woman, No Cry” until we were sitting around the table eating the porridge together and the song came on - it was a special moment.

Grade 3 Edible Social Studies: Week 12

When it comes to integrating an exploration of the history of San Francisco, food education, and a civil rights curriculum, the possibilities are endless. We only have 14 weeks together with the third graders, split between the garden and kitchen classrooms. Each topic we choose to focus on means there are hundreds of other stories we don’t get to tell. Last week we learned that the Gold Rush brought people from all over the world to California. I wish we could spend an entire year cooking and eating our way through the food traditions each immigrant and refugee group contributed to the culinary fabric of our city!

Sometimes a powerful chapter in history pairs nicely with a cooking activity we know kids will enjoy, which is why this week we learned about the role the Presidio of San Francisco played in Japanese incarceration during World War II while making our own sushi. The Presidio simultaneously housed the office of the general who signed the executive order that would exclude persons of enemy ancestry across the West Coast and a secret language school where Japanese-American soldiers were trained as military linguists. In our opening circle, students and educators shared their own experiences of feeling excluded and we all agreed exclusion has a powerful and lasting effect.

We made temaki (literally “hand-roll” in Japanese) with sheets of nori and many colorful plant-based fillings: braised tofu, oshinko (pickled daikon), sunflower sprouts, Japanese cucumber, carrots, furikake (a Japanese rice seasoning), green onion, and pickled ginger. The chefs seemed to most enjoy learning the secret of sealing the final flap of nori with a single grain of sushi rice, which makes an excellent edible glue.

Breakfast Around the World Week 8: Egypt

This week we made our own falafel, Egyptian style! Egyptian ta’ameya are made with fava beans instead of the Israeli chick pea-based falafel more commonly found in the US. Working with the dough is a tactile experience that some students loved and others did not enjoy. We all agreed, however, that coating the ta’ameya in sesame seeds; frying them; pairing them with hummus and cucumber; and smooshing them inside warm pita to reveal their bright, herby insides was delightful, tasty, and filling.

Grade 3 Edible Social Studies: Week 11

We started class last week with a circle where students had a chance to share their favorite noodle. We discussed how people from China (the birthplace of the noodle) first came to the San Francisco Bay Area to work in the mines, in agriculture, and to help build the first transcontinental railroad. We watched a short film about current efforts to make visible the role Chinese workers played in building the railroad, and learned about the Chinese Exclusion Act, the nation’s first immigration law that excluded an entire ethnic group.

As our school hones its civil rights curriculum, our students are beginning to draw meaningful connections across time and space. While we examined how Chinese laborers were portrayed on posters in the late 1880s as rat-like beasts, a student asked, “Why didn’t Black people and Chinese people work together to fight back?”

In the kitchen, our young chefs chopped and snipped their way through a truly enormous pile of seasonal vegetables at each table. They then stir-fried garlic, ginger, and green onions in a wok, added the other vegetables, the noodles, and finally a soy and sesame oil sauce. Unlike chow mein, where the noodles are fried until crispy, lo mein noodles are first boiled, then tossed in the sauce briefly just before serving.

Breakfast Around the World Week 7: Argentina

This week we attempted to make tortilla de papas without a non-stick pan, which forced us all to embrace the spirit of adventure! (Some released beautifully, some stuck to the pan, and one partially ended up on the floor.) We started class by discussing the colonial history of Argentina and the lasting Spanish influence on Argentinian culture. Commonly called tortilla española in Spain, the omelette features thin layers of onion and potatoes and a dramatic flipping of the pan mid-cooking process.

As an accompaniment to the tortilla, students made chimichurri, a fresh parsley-based sauce traditionally served in Argentina alongside grilled meat. The bright, herbal flavor of the chimichurri paired really well with the earthy egg and potatoes. We definitely recommend eating them together this way.

Grade 3 Edible Social Studies: Week 10

This week’s lesson was all about corn, which was domesticated by indigenous peoples in what is now Mexico thousands of years ago. We watched two short films from Eater: Why Corn is the Most Sacred Crop and The Dark and Terrible History of Corn. The content provoked lively discussion of Mexican Independence, the Mexican-American War, the California Gold Rush, and the lasting influence Mexican food culture has had on the Bay Area.

The third graders were the first students to use our beautiful new handmade tortilla presses and had a lot of fun rolling, pressing, and cooking together. They ate the warm corn tortillas with pico de gallo, queso fresco, and a squeeze of lime. ¡Viva la tortilla!

Breakfast Around the World Week 6: India

Ms. Stuti taught us how to make upma, a savory semolina porridge, from her home country of India this week. We started by pounding ginger and green chilis in a mortar and pestle, then tempered a variety of spices, including fresh curry leaves, in homemade ghee. Students added semolina, then water, and made a fluffy and rich porridge. Then we made a crunchy salad dressed with lots of lime and cilantro to top the porridge.

The whole meal came together quickly and the resulting breakfast was so delicious, Mr. Swick came back as a special guest two days in a row! The best part of this program is watching kids discover something simple, healthy, and tasty they can cook themselves with ingredients and flavor profiles they might not have encountered before. Thank you, Ms. Stuti, for introducing us to upma!

Grades 4/5 Edible Social Studies: Weeks 10 and 11

Last week the fourth and fifth graders played a game in the garden using the black bin, blue bin, green bin, and common items found around school and at home. We learned that film plastic, which is used to cover quite a bit of the food packaging served through Student Nutrition Services, can be recycled when placed together in a clear bag. You can also recycle soft-ball-size clumps of foil and used clothing that can’t be donated and reworn. And, students learned that used masking tape and stickers you can easily tear with your hands can be composted together with food scraps in the green bin!

This week we focused on making posters that will be put up around the school to aid in our campaign to reduce waste at Harvey Milk. We love to facilitate more ways for our upper-grade students to connect with younger kids in the school community.

Grade 3 Edible Social Studies: Week 9

We started class this week by discussing the year 1776, when the thirteen colonies signed the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution came to an end. In what is now known as San Francisco, however, 1776 marked the arrival of the Spanish, who changed the landscape of our region forever. Students watched a short film featuring native voices discussing the idea of civilized vs. savage that accompanied the European colonialists. We introduced the idea of how food was used as a way to divide people (i.e. the European diet of bread, olives, and wine was deemed superior, while the indigenous diet, seen as coming from the dirt, was deemed inferior). We then showed a short video of olive oil production in Spain and talked about how many of the agricultural products California is now known for (e.g. olives and citrus) were originally brought here by the Spanish.

In the kitchen, the third graders made a wheatberry salad showcasing ingredients introduced to the Bay Area in the late 18th century. Many noted the strong flavor of the olives. (Like colonialism, they leave a lasting impression.)

Breakfast Around the World: Week 5 - El Salvador

We made bean and cheese pupusas this week and served them with curtido featuring purple cabbage. Students always love classes where they get to make and eat their own individual serving of breakfast, and I think something ancient and profound gets triggered in our brains when we prepare food with just our hands. The kids were in the zone!

Few of us mastered the art of keeping the filling encased inside the masa dough (we’ll have to bring this recipe back soon so we can keep practicing), yet all the pupusas were eaten with gusto.