Connecting Children With Where Their Food Comes From

By Alan Haight

Printed in the Family Post: Spring Issue 2008

Time was, not long ago, that most people had a direct relationship with farming. Whether they lived on a farm or not, most had grandparents or a relative that farmed, and they spent time on a working farm during some part of their lives. Just two generations ago, at least a third of the population of this country was living and working on farms.

Not so, today. A steady decline in number of people on farms—an average of half a million people a year for more than forty years—has meant that now less than 2 percent of the U.S. population is engaged in farming.

That’s a stunning fact. What’s more stunning is that a majority of Americans will never set foot on a farm during their entire life, even though most of them will eat three meals a day made up of farm products. The closest they’ll ever get to where their food comes from may be the produce section where they shop.

Given that over 1 billion pounds of pesticides are used on American farms each year, that might not be such a bad thing. According to data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the average American child between the ages of six and eleven carries four times the acceptable level of pesticides called organophosphates, which have been shown to cause long-term damage to individuals when exposure occurs during the fetal stage and childhood.

The rise of community-based organic farming in the last thirty years presents all of us with a safe alternative—know your local farmer and know your food. Even though we’ve grown used to the idea that we should be able to eat tomatoes in December and apples in June, we still instinctively know that we are dependent on nature to provide us our sustenance, and the seasons set the pace for much of what we do in life. Visiting a farm or buying produce from a local farm is a direct way to connect children with the experience of where their food comes from and the rhythms of nature—and a wonderful set of memories as well.

At Riverhill Farm, we provide weekly boxes of fresh, organically grown produce through our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) offering, and welcome families to pick their boxes up at the farm to foster a strong relationship between children and the farm. We are now accepting subscribers for the coming farm season. This year, parents and children are coming together in Riverhill’s CSA to build a children’s garden at the farm where children will be able to directly participate in the progress of the season. And, as in years past, children are encouraged to forage a little with their parents and get the pleasure of picking and eating strawberries and cherry tomatoes while at the farm.

We also offer produce at our farmstand, where it’s possible to buy one variety of fruit or vegetables or ten, whatever’s in season that week. The farmstand is an inviting structure that serves as a hub around which most of the farm’s activities revolve, and where you can sit and chat while you’re here. We’ll welcome the opportunity to nurture you and your children with good, wholesome food and take delight in how the little ones grow.

Alan Haight farms with his wife, Jo McProud, at Riverhill Farm. For more information, directions, and to contact them, go to riverhillfarm.com