Article 2. Garden Programs of California Education Code >> Division 1. >> Title 1. >> Part 6. >> Chapter 10. >> Article 2.

The Legislature intends to expand the number of educational gardens and garden salad bars in California public schools by offering startup or expansion grants, implementing garden-enhanced nutrition education, and training and resources to the grantees. For those purposes, the school gardens program is hereby established.

The State Department of Education shall establish, develop, and implement the instructional school garden program to make competitive grants available for school districts and county offices of education. Schools may incorporate one of the following into the nutrition education program proposal:
  (a) An instructional school garden if a garden does not already exist on the site.
  (b) A school garden salad bar with a compost program if an instructional garden already exists onsite.
  (c) An instructional school garden if an instructional garden does not already exist on the schoolsite and a school garden salad bar with a compost program.

The State Department of Education shall distribute the grants pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b), in consultation with education, nutrition, and agricultural experts, at the applicant's election, as follows:
  (a) A maximum of one thousand dollars ($1,000) to each school that establishes instructional school gardens and an additional five hundred dollars ($500) as a workshop travel stipend to each school district that receives a grant.
  (b) A maximum of two thousand dollars ($2,000), available on a competitive basis as determined by the State Department of Education, to each school that has an existing instructional garden onsite, and that would offer a garden salad in the school lunch program with these funds.

The State Department of Education shall develop, research, and coordinate the best available practices regarding appropriate curriculum for school garden programs in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, in consultation with education, nutrition, and agricultural experts. The department shall make the curriculum available to the schools that receive a grant pursuant to this article.

The department shall select grant recipients from the northern, southern, and central regions of the state and from urban, rural, and suburban areas, so that the recipients are broadly representative of the state.