The Rich Roll Podcast

Today on the show I visit New York's PS244 – The Active Learning Elementary School — in Flushing, Queens to chat with science teacher and Director of the school's Wellness and Nutrition Program Christian Ledesma, as well as PS244's Principal Bob Groff to find out how PS244 became the first public school in the United States to institute a vegetarian school lunch. But what I pleasantly discovered went well beyond a simple cafeteria upgrade. PS244's revolutionary school lunch program is just the latest manifestation of a school founded on principals of wellness. It's fair to say that the very fibre of PS244's DNA is the promotion of holistic health for kids premised on the advancement of not just the mind, but that of the childrens' bodies & character. And it shows. I saw food being grown in hanging gardens along the playground fences. Kindergartners making their own granola bars and tasting blackberries in after-school programs. Even a tower garden in the school library. And that's just the tip of the iceberg