This past week I took two different groups out on tours of our farm.  Thursday eight 5th graders, one parent and one teacher were here.  The kids were amazing, really engaged and full of relevant, intelligent questions.  They were enthusiastic and thrilled beyond belief when I set them loose in the strawberry field.  It was simply joyous watching them go crazy looking for the perfect specimen and shouting “this is the best strawberry I have ever tasted!”.  Before I sent them out though I asked who knew what color the inside of  a strawberry is and sadly not one of them knew.  I have to wonder how we’ve moved so far away from real food, or even the iconic concept of it?  Didn’t we describe something as red as strawberries.  Wasn’t that a different color than the cherry red or candy apple red?  So I ask myself what needs to happen to turn us around, how do we shift this course we are on that has taken us so far away from any connection to our food? What will it take for everyone to understand a strawberry is red the whole way through, and is juicy and sweet?  When you pick them for flavor they are ripe and oh so delicate.  We have traded flavor and color (and truth be told, nutrition) for transportability. But I want everyone to experience that perfect strawberry;  to watch their kids running around the field completely excited to eat a piece of FRUIT!  And when that day is over, those kids will know and remember and we will have inched that road over ever so slightly in our direction.  So round up all your kids, and if you don’t have any of your own, borrow some, and bring them to a Strawberry Day, because that simple little act might just make a real big difference to a future local food eater.
And in the same vein, I would like to mention again, there are still a few spots open for the Bay Leaf Kitchen Cooking Camp.  Talk about an opportunity for kids to learn about healthy, delicious local food and what to do with it, this is it. Please let your friends know, the camp is certainly not limited to Eatwell Farm members!  Thanks for sharing.