Wednesday, January 27, 2021

WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS: Farm Tripping

"Strong communities are built around real, local food.  Food we trust to nourish our bodies, the farmer, and planet." 

                                                                                                        --Kimball Musk 

One of my favorite childhood memories is the summers at my grandparents’ farm in Indiana.  There was something special about the big garden my grandfather planted for my grandmother.  We ate so well: fresh-picked green beans, luscious sliced tomatoes, and potatoes. Homemade vanilla ice-cream with sliced strawberries from Huber’s Farm. Fresh peach pie with homemade icep-cream on Sundays.  

In the workshops designed by Growing Healthy Kids, we see the value of taking kids to meet farmers. Sometimes it is at the local farmers market and sometimes it is going to the farm.  Kids grow from learning where real food comes from. Kids learn by doing. 

One thing these workshops have taught me is that teaching kids what real food is and where it comes from has not been a priority in educating children but it should be. Almost all of the kids educated through Growing Healthy Kids’ workshops have self-reported previously never going to a farmers market, let alone a farm, before they participated in our program.  These workshops have taught me that all kids deserve opportunities to go to farms, talk to farmers, learn what is grown in their bio-region and about real food from the people growing it. 

A trip to the farm can be life-changing. Good food is a centerpiece to a good life and connecting with the source of real food is a valuable lesson. Getting outside and slowing down as one walks the farm is a great stress reliever.  As your breath slows down, your blood pressure relaxes. You sleep better at night with a good dose of fresh air. 

Find opportunities to visit your local farmers market with your children.  Introduce yourselves to the farmers and ask them about what they grow.  Ask them why they work so hard to grow food for total strangers.  Let’s go to the farm!

Improving the health and lives of America’s children, one child at a time. 

With love and kindness,

Nancy Heinrich, MPH

Founder and Wellness Architect