Helping kids develop their green thumbs
Kids take their lead where they find it.
Parents steer kids in one direction, sometimes their school lives steer them in another.
When it comes to food, there is little doubt that every child, for better or worse, develops eating habits from a very early age. After all, we love to eat.
Sunday Harrison is the co-ordinator of the Green Thumbs Growing Kids program in Toronto. She works — collaboratively, with the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) — in a cluster of elementary schools in high-need neighbourhoods in downtown Toronto.
“Children are growing up in highrise communities without access to green space and fresh, growing food. Research shows that positive attitudes toward nature are formed in childhood,” Harrison says, explaining her motivation for the program.
I agree that kids can learn a lot by growing their own food and it is hard to imagine a parent who does not feel the same way.
Digging further into the subject with Harrison, I’ve learned a thing or two about the benefits that kids enjoy when they grow their own food: Universal language “We witness the power of gardening to unite people through the universal language of food; our programs reach all ages at various times during the year,” Harrison says. Green Thumbs partners with schools to integrate lessons of gardening with curriculum expectations in science, language, art, mathematics and social studies. Worms, squirrels and humans We are not alone.
And the gardening experience helps kids understand that we share the natural world with myriad other creatures.
In fact, the lesson here is not just that living things share our outdoor space, but that the land was likely their home first. Who benefits? Seventy per cent of the kids who participate in the program come from first-generation immigrant families, including many refugees.
The kids and volunteers are encouraged to taste, harvest and take food from the school garden home. Better food equals better nutrition equals better learning.
This year, more than 3,000 kids are being reached by the program. What about summer? A great deal of the watering, weeding and harvesting all take place while kids are off school for the summer. “Youth staff run weekly drop-in evenings for families to care for and harvest the gardens all summer,” Harrison says, “and local day campers visit — many are the same children who planted in spring.” The gardens provide summer youth programs with the perfect tool for teaching healthy food preparation, art, music, meditation and yoga. “Beyond summer jobs, youth in our programs have opportunities to earn money through our social enterprise, gardening and residential properties.” Why not standardize the program for all? I point out the elephant in the garden: If the idea of Green Thumbs Growing Kids is so wonderful, shouldn’t the provincial government hop on board and support school boards to offer such programs? “Canada remains the only industrialized country without a national school food policy,” Harrison says. “Most successful longterm school gardens are either supported by community organizations or are located in high-income school districts.”
The Washington Post recently published a piece by Shannon Brescher Shea headlined “How Gardening Can Help Build Healthier, Happier Kids.”
In it, she relates that gardening in U.S. households with kids increased by 25 per cent between 2008 and 2013: “The natural stimulation of being outside seems to replenish minds exhausted from practising self-discipline. It re-energizes the part of the brain that controls concentration, checks urges and delays gratification.”
I am encouraged by this and hope that Canadians are following suit. Veggie-growing habits have been showing the right signs: seed-rack sales of vegetables are up about 20 per cent after steadily climbing for the past five years. Eating dirt is good Shea points out that research suggests young children who eat dirt while playing in the garden, or yard, reap benefits. They develop “microbiome” or a personal microbe ecosystem. Although there are some microbes — bacteria, fungi and viruses — that make us sick, many more are essential to our health.
I reflect on my late mother’s attitude toward my penchant for eating dirt as a youngster. Much like her attitude toward outdoor activity generally, there was this benignness about it all: “Just make sure you are home before dark.”
I think that my microbiome has served me well over the years. Mark Cullen is an expert gardener, Order of Canada recipient, author and broadcaster. Get his free monthly newsletter at markcullen.com. Look for his new bestseller, The New Canadian Garden, published by Dundurn Press. Follow him on Twitter @MarkCullen4 and Facebook.