Becoming the Assistant Farmer at Great Kids Farm has had a multitude of impacts on my life and my heart. I have learned what it means to grow your own food and truly engrain that understanding into your every day life. I have discovered what my calling is in the fight for food justice. Lastly, I have found that Great Kids Farm’s unique ability to educate students on healthy eating and healthy living is changing the odds in the fight for food justice. I witnessed this on multiple occasions when students were visiting the Farm, but one in particular has really stood out among the rest.
When I started my year of service at Great Kids Farm last fall, I was nervous about each new task I attempted. I’ve never had a green thumb nor knew the first thing to growing produce, let alone how to talk to students about the local food movement. During the first few weeks at the Farm I was asked to assist with an educational school visit. School visits are designed so that all students have an opportunity to see, taste, plant and harvest. Students rotate through different stations in small groups, each station addressing a different point in the growing process. On this particular school visit, I was in charge of the farm tour; it would be my first time leading the tour on my own. At first I was extremely nervous, but the nerves quickly dissipated as soon as excitement and joy began pouring out of the students. After each vegetable they saw growing, they grew more and more enthusiastic. We first visited the greenhouse, where I described the micro-green growing process and how the greenhouse enables them to grow. Eyes lit up as they saw the tiniest sprouts peeking through the soil and observed the different stages of growth. Then we headed outside to a field of collards, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and broccoli. Many students could identify some of the plants, but when I peeled back the broccoli greens away from the flower, the students were in awe. They’d never seen a broccoli plant before, let alone realized that the part of the plant they ate was the flower. Students were in shock and had a rush of excitement: their eyes said “If this is how broccoli grows, then what else is out there for me to discover?!”
This experience set the tone for all of the school visits, classroom visits, service days, intern work days, and other educational programming that I have participated in at the Farm. Seeing students empowered by their Farm visit has made me realize the true impact and importance of education. I want to continue to work and serve in a field that allows me to educate students and communities about vital aspects of their lives related to food and their environment. When I reflect on my initial fears about not having a green thumb, I realize that learning the technical details of growing food are only a minor part of my learning experience at the Farm. Rather, my time at the Farm has caused a dramatic shift in my perspective that has allowed me to grow as a person, deepen my understanding of my true passions and help me define the role I am meant to play in the fight for food justice.