Portland Public Schools Say It’s Okay to Eat the Produce: But Don’t Do It

Less than a week after Portland Public Schools issued a directive to not eat produce frown in school gardens because of concerns about lead in the water, they have backed off. Sort of.

The district released a statement with the Oregon Health Authority stating that, based on scientific research about the safety of gardening in soil that might contain lead, they determined the produce grown in school gardens would be safe if washed.

“In general, garden plants do not absorb significant quantities of lead,” the agencies said the in the statement.

So, it’s okay to eat the produce?

Not quite.

The school district says they are still saying don’t eat the produce.

Why?

“At this point we will not be serving food from school gardens because we are still evaluating fixtures for lead used for food preparation,” the district said.

“PPS will reinstitute the use of school garden produce in our kitchens and classrooms once cold water fixtures are available to safely wash garden fruits and vegetables. We will provide thorough training to our nutrition services staff about proper washing at that time.”

Image via ShutterStock