Kanazawa Kaga Vegetables School Cultivation and Food Education
Kanazawa, Japan · Operator: 金沢市 / 金沢市農産物ブランド協会 / 金沢大学附属学校園
Overview
Kanazawa's 15 certified 'Kaga vegetables' heirlooms are grown, harvested and cooked by schoolchildren in integrated-study programs and featured in food-education booklets and lunches, transmitting the city's heritage food culture and history to the next generation.
Citizen participation
Pupils (e.g. third-graders at Kanazawa University's affiliated schools) choose, grow, harvest and cook Kaga vegetables in integrated-study classes; food-education booklets and school lunches also feature them.
Operating model
City and brand association certify and conserve varieties and promote the brand, in partnership with schools and the university for education.
Impact
Pairs heirloom conservation and branding with hometown food education for children.
Crops
- 源助だいこん (Gensuke daikon)
- 加賀れんこん (Kaga lotus root)
- 金時草 (kintoki-so)
- 加賀太きゅうり (Kaga futo cucumber)
- 打木赤皮甘栗かぼちゃ
Scale
15 certified Kaga heirloom varieties; school gardens and food-education booklets citywide
Sources（2）
This entry is compiled from the public sources, official sites and research below.
Related cases
Edible Schoolyard at Aiwa Elementary, Tama
JPTama, Japan
In 2014 Aiwa Elementary in Tama became Japan's first Edible Schoolyard, modeled on Alice Waters' Berkeley program. The school garden and kitchen serve as 'living classrooms' where children learn through all five senses, from sowing to harvest, cooking and eating, as a formal subject. Pupils experience nutrient cycles, the interconnection of life and ties to their community.
edibleschoolyard-japan.org+2
Edible Schoolyard at Sakamoto Elementary, Chuo
JPChuo, Tokyo, Japan
Following its work at Aiwa Elementary in Tama, Edible Schoolyard Japan extended edible education to central Tokyo, where pupils of Chuo Ward's Sakamoto Elementary School take edible lessons linked to the nearby Edible KAYABAEN rooftop garden. It brings garden-based food education, from seed to table, into an inner-city public elementary school.
ediblekayabaen.jp+1
Edo-Tokyo Vegetables in Community Gardens and Schools
JPTokyo, Japan
A long-running movement reviving Tokyo's near-lost heirloom 'Edo-Tokyo vegetables' in city schools, a horticultural high school and allotments. Over nearly 30 years more than 50 varieties have been registered, linking heritage food culture and farming to the next generation via school lunches and food education.
tokyo-ja.or.jp+1
Naniwa Traditional Vegetables in Osaka Schools
JPOsaka, Japan
Osaka certifies 'Naniwa traditional vegetables'—heirlooms nearly lost to urbanization—and uses them in school gardens and lunches as 'living teaching material,' letting pupils taste and learn the food culture and farming nurtured by Osaka's historic 'kitchen of the nation.'
city.osaka.lg.jp+1