I come from a country town. Not too far from the big smoke, but at the time, far enough that there were rolling hills of farmland surrounding the area, and people would still occasionally ride horses around the streets. But, the town itself was growing and starting to become more influenced by the city life, and kids were losing their touch with nature. And it was a town where at high school, we had a year eight (at least) class called "agriculture" (Ag for short), where we would learn about farming farming for a semester, and grow our own vegetables in a small plot beside the school.
Have I mentioned I was raised pretty much vegetarian before?
This was a rarity in Australia at the time, and almost non-existent in the town in which I was raised. However, my mum was a great cook and used a lot of spice, so don't think that the food was the traditional vegetarian fare. But, being a vegetarian in a household that was often financially struggling, eating vegetables wasn't really an issue. But when I saw a peer eating a raw turnip at school like it was the juiciest apple in the world, I found it strange.
But it also made something clear.
The kid was one of those disruptive children that is common in the classroom today, but then were just starting. The type of kid where one could assume that they come from a broken home, where both parent s fail to pay attention, unless punishing the child, and choose to feed whatever is convenient to dish up - probably a TV dinner of some sort. Sure, I have no actual idea of what Shane's homelife was like - but at school, he was what could be considered in context, as a deadbeat wanker.
However, it was interesting to see from him and many of the other kids, that they didn't really have much experience with vegetables, but when they got to grow their own, tending to their little one meter by two meter plot, watering, weeding and admiring their work, they grew as people. Albeit for a short period, and most likely regressed.
No matter how idiotic the kid normally, pretty much all the kids did a good job of looking after their garden, helping the broccoli, cauliflower, turnips, potatoes and carrots turn from nothing into fully grown, healthy, vitamin-rich food. And when it came time to harvest their mini crop, they took pleasure in cutting the heads off, and carefully packing them into their school bags to proudly take them home to their parents. who might not know what they are themselves, let alone how to cook them.
Kids being kids though...
Some couldn't resist having a taste of the food they produced with their own hands, which is why Shane was there munching away on a raw turnip - which couldn't have tasted brilliant. And he wasn't the only one. Quite a few were taking bites out of various vegetables to test their goodness, and despite them being raw, seemed to quite enjoy it. It wasn't the taste they enjoyed, but the experience of enjoying the fruits of their labour. Or vegetables of their labour in this case. And for many, it looked like they were enjoying eating something that they considered good for them - like that was a new experience also.
Again, I have no idea what most of these people's family lives were like in reality, but these were my perceptions as a thirteen year old kid, who had to deal with them in class for years. It was also interesting to note that my own friends at the time, while they did the work and cared for their plants, didn't care too much otherwise, because they were farmer kids so this was nothing new for them. They were not only used to growing food, they were also used to hunting food.
One of the key lessons that stuck with me from this class was how important it is to take ownership if we want to improve our experience. Another is, how valuable we find things that we have done ourselves, even if for a few dollars at the time, we could have gone to the store and bought all the same vegetables without the months of hard work in the sun. When things are cheap, we seem to devalue their importance. People complain about the cost of healthy food, but will spend 2000 dollars on a new phone, that does the same thing as their old phone.
We are creative animals, that have the power to shape our world and impact our experience. Yet, we have become a consumer force, no longer part of the creative process until the end of the supply chain, as the open mouth that eats, and the ass that disposes of the waste. There are many ways to grow, but if we are creating nothing ourselves, what are we becoming?
Taraz
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