UFK at Eastie Farm
One child eats oreos with lunchables meat every day before class - separating the black and white cookies, and sandwiching the over-processed meat between the cookie with a simple ritualism. I sit beside her, and ask: “Do you bring lunch and snack from home every day?”
“Yes, my mom packs it for me,” she says.
“What are the healthier foods in your lunchbox today?”
She points to the mango and yogurt, while making tidy oreo-potato chip-deli meat sandwiches.
“You got it! So I have a question - what if you start eating your healthy snack first?”
She smiles, coyly. “I really like junk food.”
“Well, the healthy food will give you a strong, healthy body and mind. I know the junk food tastes good, but…”
She smiles, sheepishly, and opens the mango. We often forget that children - like adults - respond to calm conversation; when one-on-one, and suggesting rather than demanding, messages fall onto ready ears.
Students approach me, parts of their snack devoured (but most thrown in the trash) and all yell-ask, "what are we making today?!"
"Burgers!!" I say.
"Will there be animals??"
"Yes, we have animals at Eastie Farm!" Thinking to myself, we have a whole bin of worms.
They throw celebratory fists into the air, and encourage their friends to get ready to go with greater gusto and speed. The truth leaks out - we're making veggie burgers. Preparing to walk the three blocks to Eastie Farm, one skeptic whispers to a skeptical friend: "Shh, it's okay, you can take the veggies out."
After exploring the garden, and looking to see where some ingredients comes from (garlic from China; apples from Washington; bananas from Colombia) as compared to our locally grown items, we turn our attention to our burger recipe for the day. They are in it - demonstrating the knife skills acquired to mince garlic, measuring brown rice and asking for jobs as soon as they have a spare moment.
“These are burgers?” The skeptic asks. I wonder if she still thinks the veggies can be extruded.
"Yes! Except remember how much water meat production takes up? One pound of meat needs 90 showers-worth of water! Veggie burgers are better for your body and for the earth."
Are these kids buying that line, I think to myself?
The skeptic turns to her friend: "I'm going to be a vegetarian."
"Me too," the veggie-picker says. "And guess what! I stopped eating junk food - I eat fruit now!"
Surrounded by friends, the sound of birds, worms, snails, flowers, and plenty of interesting tiny worlds to explore, health means something else; it is actually associated with happiness.