Every Spring Common Vision's Fruit Tree Tour travels the length of California in the world's largest veggie-oil powered caravan planting thousands of fruit trees at urban schools from San Diego to Sacramento. Common Vision's 25 Earth educators teach students through a daylong program that includes tree planting, West African agricultural drumming and earth-conscious hip-hop. Over 10,000 students benefit from Fruit Tree Tour each year. An average of twenty trees are planted at each school including pear, peach, fig, avocado, guava, apricot, nectarine, citrus and apple.Aveson's day was Tuesday, March 4, 2008. Through performance, story telling and hands on workshops the unique program introduced key concepts of health, ecology, and interconnectedness. The Fruit Tree Tour helps Aveson educators integrate sustainability into school curricula and landscapes.
Fruit Tree Facts:
* Only 11% of California's school aged children eat the recommended 5+ servings of fruits and vegetables per day.
* One healthy apple or pear tree can produce 1,000 pounds of fruit a year.
* 80% of the students participating in Fruit Tree Tour are part of the free or reduced school lunch program.
* Urban trees reduce city noise and glare, reduce storm water runoff, improve air quality and can reduce the temperatures of “urban heat islands” by 5 degrees or more.
* By using vegetable oil as fuel, the Fruit Tree Tour Fleet has saved over 6,000 gallons of petroleum.
Common Vision's mission is to cultivate ecological awareness and respect for the Earth while generating social and environmental change towards sustainable ways of life. They integrate concepts of ecology with the traditions, music and art of cultures that live or have lived in harmony with the Earth. Common Vision is a solution-focused nonprofit organization. Since its inception in 1999, Common Vision has hosted educational workshops and tours about permaculture, biofuels, community, art, culture, and ecology.
www.commonvision.org
