Reflections on Participating in the Food and Agriculture Education Workshop (Part 2): Northern Region Environmental Education Regional Center

Mr. Huang Jianrong, principal of Yueming Elementary School in Su'ao, Yilan, shared the case of food and agriculture education that Yueming Elementary School began many years ago. Starting nine years ago, the number of students at Yueming Elementary School continued to decline, reflecting the increasingly serious outmigration of the rural population. How to sustain the operation of a remote rural elementary school? Attracting students from outside the school district is the most direct method. Yueming Elementary School, located by the sea, originally used sailing courses as its school-running feature. However, in recent years, a systematized food and agriculture curriculum has become an opportunity for this elementary school to start anew.

The Opportunity for Food and Agriculture Education at Yueming Elementary School

1. Eat well, save yourself and save the Earth. Jane Goodall

(Food and agriculture for the environment and sustainable development)

2. The "From Seed to Table" program at King Middle School in California, USA

(Food and agriculture for whole-person education)

3. Japan's "food and agriculture education" and "shokuiku"

(Food and agriculture for food safety and food culture)

Principal Huang himself is a son of Su'ao and graduated from the Graduate Institute of Environmental Education at National Taiwan Normal University. He has served for a long time at an elementary school in his hometown of Su'ao. In the process, he saw the crisis in rural areas and children's ignorance of the food production process, and felt very worried. Therefore, he began a series of experimental education, arranging one food and agriculture education class every week, and arranging different courses according to the needs and abilities of different grades. By combining elements such as agricultural technology, food culture, environmental ethics, and health education, he created a whole-person education unique to Yueming Elementary School. It also connects with small farmers in the community, allowing community resources to enter the school and enabling mutual exchange. The children can also better understand the land they are learning on, experience the joy of food "from seed to table," the happiness of labor, and the meaning of being one with the community.