news-record.com

Betsy Grant says not all kids have to love artichokes, broccoli or spinach.

But they shouldn't be afraid to try them, either.

Grant, chief executive officer at the Greensboro Children's Museum, says she hopes her institution's latest project, the Edible Schoolyard, will give kids a greater appreciation for where their food comes from and maybe even persuade some to get their hands dirty.

The venture is a program of Berkeley, Calif., chef Alice Waters' Chez Panisse Foundation and will feature a garden, outdoor classrooms and a kitchen.

More important: It will be the first of its kind in a children's museum.

"If a child helps to plant a tomato, pick the tomato and chop the tomato, they'll eat it," Grant says. "We can show them that foods grown in the backyard are not just healthy, but they also taste good. And if they participate, we hope that maybe they'll be interested in having a backyard garden at home."

Ground is expected to be broken in the fall when Waters visits.

The Children's Museum started a similar program in 2001 with its Syngenta Learning Garden. The Edible Schoolyard will expand on that garden and eventually cover most of the museum's backyard.

For obvious reasons, children will help plant, harvest and prepare the food.

"We want the kids to walk away with the knowledge that the choices they make about food affect more than they know," says Kyle Cornforth, the Chez Panisse Foundation's coordinator for the Edible Schoolyard Program.