Michelle Obama Opens Conversation on Gardening Programs with American Grown

Michelle Obama was on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart tonight promoting a new book she wrote called American Grown. I have not read her book yet – I do plan to – but the message that she is promoting is something that I agree with and feel strongly about. Americans need to eat healthy, natural, whole foods. We poison our bodies with too much fast food, too many preservatives, and too much processed foods that over time, wear our bodies down, increase body fat, and make us susceptible to a plethora of health diseases including diabetes and various types of cancer.

On the show, Michelle Obama mentioned that children, when involved with the gardening process and contributing to their food preparation, become engaged and enthusiastic about the foods and the benefits they will receive from them. It also makes them more inclined to make healthier decisions regarding food when they are out on their own.

I also feel like this concept of gardening is something that should be encouraged within our school systems. These same values would be taught to children who might not otherwise have the opportunity to participate in such an activity. In addition to learning a gardening skill and learning the importance of good nutrition, the gardens can actually be used to prepare healthy, natural foods in the school lunch programs, which could even extend into economics and business conversations.

(The concept of gardening within school systems was first shared with me by Debra K. Norwood of Estero, Florida, who recently worked with a school in Miami to start a gardening program. She also shared other great ideas for enhancing the educational experience through gardening and farming with me like making sure every classroom has four or five plants in them to replenish the oxygen supply, helping to keep children more focused and productive.)

Teaching children to garden in schools and providing for the lunches that they will eat each day is the beginning of a lifelong system of values that could enhance the lives of each student and our communities at large. This system of values could organically help us reduce the demand for processed foods and the urge to overeat fast and junk foods, leading to a decline in health care costs related to illnesses spawned by obesity and unhealthy diets. It could even encourage more local farming and more people who seek natural, organic foods from local suppliers.

Simply put: teaching gardening skills and engaging children in their nutrition programs could help stimulate local economies and help reduce health care costs while creating healthier Americans.

This is definitely an idea that should be discussed within our school systems and we really need to start opening that dialog with Board of Education members, teachers, and local organizations that could help contribute with time, equipment, donations, etc.