“If you want to teach people a new way of thinking, don't bother trying to teach them. Instead, give them a tool, the use of which will lead to new ways of thinking.”
Dome To Dish CIC founded the 5+5 a day ‘mix it up’ program. Here is a brief overview.
The program promotes the five recommended daily intake of fruit and vegetables and the other five core components (see below) which will support communities in leading a ‘healthier and safer lifestyle’, therefore we provide a unique educational programme FREE for everyone:
Hand Washing
Mental Health
Climate Change “dome to dish seed to feed program”
Financial Literacy - (give, save, spend and borrow).
Exercise - Nutrition - Obesity
As the saying goes “Give a man a fish feed him for a day” “Teach him how to fish you will feed him for Life”. Learning to grow their own food whilst also recognising climate change and the rapid way in which it is escalating. With the extended height in the dome, the children can explore learning around; Vertical Farming, and Aquaponics.
A Dome Village - Community Harvesting; Shelter for the homeless. To run initiatives that Nourish and Educate children, their families, and wider communities.
To have pilot programmes running in 2020
Have a presence in our first educational facility which will be the go to for other schools to visit and experience the program.
To have developed a software package that supports the implementation of the programme.
Program running in the first prison facility
When the program was run in New Zealand initial feedback shows that teachers and children were very receptive and children would participate in fun cooking classes where they are taught how to make quick, nutritious meals using produce from the dome therefore – 5+5 a day program teaches people how to grow organic and spray free produce all year round as part of caring for the environment and encourage sustainable living (see below).
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📷58 Ranui Terrace, Linden, 5028
P O Box 51-190, Tawa
phone: (04) 232-5329
fax: (04) 232-6629
email: office@linden.school.nz
To Whom it may concern
At Linden School we have an ethos of sustainability which is reflected in our environment. We have a school garden, compost and worm farm, fruit trees, vege pods, but our pride and joy is our garden dome.
It was all thanks to Michelle Leslie- McArthur and Dome to Dish ltd that we managed to get this. I was aware of her drive and determination from work at a previous school, so approached her to ask if there would be a possibility to have a dome at this school. She moved heaven and earth for us, and managed to fund a dome. It didn’t stop there. She, and some willing volunteers travelled for 2 hours to our site with all the product we would need to erect this dome. With willing volunteers from school we all worked tirelessly to erect this in 1 day! This was only possible by Michelle having prepared and painted parts first, and enabling others on the day to be active in the building through clear task designation.
Since then, there has been no holding back. Each week we have a gardening club, run by an amazing parent. During these sessions, and at other times, students are tending plants in both the garden and the dome. There is always a rush to see who can get to the dome first to work in there.
The process of planting, tending to these, watering, harvesting and eating the produce is a highlight of each week. The fact that produce grows so much quicker in the dome is evident when plants are planted in the dome and in the garden at the same time. The students marvel at this and enjoy the fruits of their labour, such as tomatoes and strawberries, months earlier than those grown outdoors.
This fact encouraged school to fundraise for class vege pods which we now have. These are not as enclosed as the dome, but produce fruits and vegetables quicker than the outdoor garden, enabling us to have produce all year round now.
Sometimes this produce is eaten by the students in the gardening club, and sometimes by the whole school. At other times, it has been used to make a lunch for the school staff (prepared and served by the gardening club) or shared with families who really appreciate the freshness of these products.
On behalf of our school and community, we would like to acknowledge and thank Michelle and Dome to Dish for the foresight to install these domes to support students and their families.
We wish Michelle well in all her ventures.
Regards
Gaylene Hill
Principal Linden School
Dome to Dish ltd Seed To Feed 5+5 program
Children and communities are being taught how to grow Organic and Spray free produce all year round inside the structure which uses no power just heat banks so its its totally sustainable and gentler on the environment and also teaching the children all aspects of all year round gardening. So, as well as teaching them how to eat healthier we will show them how to grow it for themselves, consume it at school, and even take some home to share with the family. This is going to be very beneficial in the lower decile areas, we feel this will be a huge community effort thus educating the wider community. It is important for both parents and children to understand why good nutrition is important and how small changes make a difference
Reasons:
Environmental Sustainability All schools are required by government to have a range of environmental education policies and practices through which it aims at environmental education and how they can be met the dome can offer fantastic “Environmental Sustainability Education.
Practical Activity based learning the dome will also teach the children problem solving skills, language development. What is more at the Bethel Learning Institute they found that students retention rates were on average 5% following a class but rose to 75% when the students learned through practical activities.
Communication and Self Sufficiency Working on projects together enables students to learn to communicate with each other in order to complete tasks given to them. Even better the dome will provide children with skills at school they can replicate at home to their parents and siblings.
Environmental Sustainability Solution- A Geodesic Solar Dome Greenhouse. Dome To Dish’s solar dome can be used for many purposes across the curriculum many for growing school initiatives, food science technology ecology passive heating and horticultural studies is just to name a few.The program is; a multi-dimensional, environmentally sustainable, and practical activity based learning, incorporating problem solving skills and language development.
Many things we need as adults can sometimes wait
“The child cannot”.