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Alice Waters, owner of Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California, is arguably the most influential chef and restaurateur of the past half century. She's the champion of food that's local, seasonal and fresh. It's known as the farm-to-table movement. On Friday, Waters was in Brooklyn where she championed the farm to cafeteria movement. She says it's just the recipe for reducing childhood obesity.

Step one? Get dirty.

"Build a garden that's connected with a school and engage the kids in an everyday way in that experience of growing their own food, finding out where food comes from," Waters said.

She calls them "Edible Schoolyards" and has been planting them all over the country for more than a decade. The one at PS 216 in Gravesend, however, is the first in the northeast.

This summer, it was an asphalt parking lot. On Friday, students worked with the two new garden teachers, planting kale and apple trees and learning about worms

"It's my first time gardening, planting the apple trees. And I had a lot of fun," said PS 216 student Cindy Choo.

Step two? Clean up and cook.

"They're engaged with the experience of cooking, so they learn how to really nourish themselves, learn how to taste," Waters said.

Already there is an outdoor classroom, but soon there will be one in the kitchen and three dining tables, for discussion over a meal. There will also be a mobile greenhouse, so growing can happen all winter long. Students will all spend a couple of hours a week in the kitchen and garden.

"Taking everything we learn up in the classroom and bringing it into the garden. There will be planting and harvesting and working together and making good decisions that will really impact on the children's lives in terms of their eating habits and appreciation for what the earth gives us," said PS 216 Principal Celia Kaplinksy.

By next fall, 25 more Brooklyn schools will be planting gardens and cooking in a mobile kitchen classroom. Eventually each borough will have an "Edible Schoolyard" hub like the one at PS 216 where principals and teachers can learn how to bring these ideas to their schools.