Published Wednesday, August 9, 2006

Tell Emily Jackson that kids don’t like Brussels sprouts, and she’ll tell you that is "one big lie." Jackson directs the Growing Minds project, an educational program for elementary school students near Asheville, N.C. By taking children on field trips to meet farmers and chefs, she teaches them where their food comes from and how to prepare it. In the process, she transforms reluctant, picky, poor eaters into hearty vegetable lovers.

Jackson described her work last month at the American Horticulture Society’s annual meeting in St. Louis. All 270 attendees from around the country share her passion and belief in the transformative power of children’s gardens.

Take okra. Okra’s not usually on anyone’s top 10 list, Jackson admitted. But when children see it growing and taste the vegetable fresh in the field, they love it. Watching a chef prepare okra three ways - pickled, boiled and fried - and tasting the finished products sealed the deal. One mother confided in amazement that her daughter begged her to buy okra. Now that’s a transformation.

By taking children to local farms, they have a chance to meet farmers who grow their food and learn the value of the farming profession, too. Whether students help wash lettuce, pick okra or observe cows or sheep in the field, Jackson says they learn to connect place and plate. Chefs take it one step further by showing children quick, easy ways to prepare delicious, healthful alternatives to fast and processed foods. Students also read books and write stories about their experiences, further cementing the concepts.

In her sweet, native Appalachian accent, Jackson lamented, "There’s lots of cheap, nasty food out there. That’s why we have impoverished children with obesity."

But Jackson knows children will eat what they grow and cook. "When children eat better, they learn better, too," she said. Her bright smile widened as she explained how gardens also nourish children’s insatiable curiosity.

In today’s media-saturated environments, children need more "green time." That’s the term Columbia physician and conference attendee Jan Swaney uses to describe the precious few hours children spend exploring their natural environments.

Richard Louv, author of "Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder" and a keynoter at the horticulture meeting, explained: "Unlike television, nature does not steal time, it amplifies it." He believes that nature inspires creativity in a child through the full use of their senses.

Sure enough, after experiencing Jackson’s field trips, students tell her that gardens help them smell different smells and see unseeable things.

Jackson discovered the power of gardening while working at a women’s shelter. She started a garden thinking it would help the women. But she found the children benefited the most. It brought out their curious nature and gave them a place to be gentle, quiet and sweet. Louv agrees that for troubled children, nature provides a place for healing.

Conference participants learned how home, school and community gardens bear gifts beyond food: renewed intergenerational connections, a sense of wonder and enchantment, and enhanced mental and physical health.

Mark Miller of Ohio State University presented research showing how gardening even helps youths develop interpersonal and cognitive skills. Students who don’t get along in the classroom might work well together when planting or weeding side by side. He’s seen shy children blossom and youths with hyperactivity calm down. He quoted Delaine Eastin, former supervisor of instruction for the state of California and avid supporter of school gardens. She believes gardening is an ideal method for teaching children about "their place in the web of life."

Conference keynoter Peter Raven, president of the Missouri Botanical Garden and professor of botany at Washington University, made an impassioned plea to reconnect children with gardens and nature. "We are living in an exceedingly urgent time. By engaging youth in their natural world, they will want to protect it for future generations."

Melinda Hemmelgarn, M.S., R.D., is a clinical dietitian and Food and Society Policy Fellow. She lives in Columbia.

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