12 Steps to Whole Foods

Reaping a Gardener’s Rewards
Fresh, organic garden produce is not only far more nutritious than what you can buy in a grocery store (which
was picked a week or more before and perhaps chemically ripened), but it’s also fabulously delicious. You may
have forgotten what “real” produce tastes like, and gardening will let you remember! As John Denver famously
wrote, “Only two things that money can’t buy, and that’s true love and home-grown tomatoes!” and “Where
would I be without home-grown tomatoes?” In the age of Monsanto controlling our seed supply and
genetically engineering our food supply, that question becomes rather profound, far more than I think the
famous, late folk singer intended.
Making Gardening a Family Project
Saundra Lorenz and fellow researchers at Texas A&M University discovered that when children spent 30
minutes weekly gardening, they were more likely to eat vegetables. Lorenz pointed out that young children
often think food comes from a grocery store, and letting them work in a garden helps them make a connection
to their food source, making whole-plant foods more appealing. 1
My children tend the garden and pick weeds throughout the summer; they get very excited about bringing food
in for our table later in the summer. We plant radishes not because I particularly like them, but because they’re
the “short-term reinforcer” for the new little gardener: they’re ready to pick only a few weeks after planting the
seeds, satisfying for small children with short attention spans.
My third child, Libby, and I plant together in my square-foot garden in the spring. It’s a
bonding experience and helps us remember and appreciate where our food comes from.
I must admit that my kids’ enthusiasm fades with the zucchini harvest, after they’ve eaten it a few times a week
for a month. An old joke in Utah revolves around an out-of-state visitor being surprised by the fact that Utahns
don’t lock their car doors at the market, gas station, or restaurants he visits with his host. But they go to the
120 12 Steps to Whole Foods
© Copyright Robyn Openshaw