Friday, May 16, 2008

Urban Homesteading hits the Mainstream Media!

Woohooo! ABC News program NIGHTLINE ran the following story last night on their show.

A Family Farm in the Midst of Suburbia

IT is SO exciting to me to see that our message of self-reliance and resourcefulness is now going beyond our circle of like-minded people. The more we get our story of food empowerment out to "the people", the more likely we are to see real change that will improve everyone's lives.

Next week my daughter's 1st grade class is walking the two blocks to come and visit my garden. So many of these children think that food comes out of a box or from the "golden arches". These school kids are simply the product of generations of Americans who have been taken in by the ease of fast-food and the simplicity of processed food products. I look forward to showing them another way to think about food and backyards!

The first year that I had this garden underway, my daughter was 3 years old. When the tomato plants started putting on fruit, I showed them to her excitedly. "Look, " I said, "look at the tomatoes!" I was shocked when she said, "Mom, those are NOT tomatoes! Tomatoes are RED!"
Wow, she really needed a garden. Now green tomatoes are her favorite. And she has her own raised bed or two and is in charge of edible flowers in the garden.

We need to get our kids involved in food production. It is the only way to truly break the chain of apathy and dependence on long-distance produce and overly processed convenience food.



7 comments:

Kelly said...

what a great blog! i completely agree with this post! my aunt owns an organic, community-supported agriculture (CSA) farm, so i've grown up realizing the unsustainable way we obtain our food. there's nothing better than a chicken coup and vegetable garden in the middle of an east asheville neighborhood, like one family i know has!

Beth said...

Thanks for your supportive comments!
I am in Oakley just off Fairview Rd. and have a neighbor who is gardening too and just added chickens. I want chickens and a goat or two but have not gotten to the place for them yet...
But to food production is going ahead full steam!
Beth

Carolyn said...

It's Carolyn from Freedom Gardens. Just wanted to stop by and visit your blog.

Happy Growing!
Carolyn

Anonymous said...
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Chief said...

Nice site. I too believe that there are many, many benefits to growing one's own food. Keep up the great work!

I post semi-regular updates of my small vegetable project on my blog, as well.

Tragedy of the Commons

Adriana said...

I'm not sure if you're aware of this program, but it's a good one to discuss with the administration at your school:

http://www.edibleschoolyard.org/homepage.html

This teaches kids science and nutrition, and it's been highly successful. When we have kids, we plan to push for this kind of program as well.

Julie said...

Beth - glad I'm finally getting to read your blog! I, too, love the Dervaes'... their website with forums and lots of good info and pics is at www.pathtofreedom.com if anyone wants to check them out further :)