Grow it, yank it out of the ground, clean it, cook it.
That’s a simple enough lesson; no solving for X, no periodic table, no “Columbus sailed the ocean blue” memorization techniques. Just some dirt, a hole, some seeds, a sink, and a saute pan. It’s the kind of lesson that’ll serve a child longer than just about anything else you could ever teach in school, because what do we do more in our life than eat? If more children grow up knowing the source of their food, how to prepare it simply, deliciously, and cost-effectively (plus other adjectives ending in ‘ly’), I’d be willing to wager a tidy sum that obesity rates in this expanding waistline nation of ours will drop, and insurance premiums will go down too. Future generations would be “fitter, happier, more productive.”
Give a kid a carrot, an onion, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and salt & pepper, and they will love vegetables for their entire lifetime. Let ’em grow those first two ingredients, and they will experience a genuine pride in themselves, and gain a knowledge that will never fade away like the names of the 19th-25th presidents of the United States. (Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, Cleveland, Harrison, Cleveland, McKinley.)
So why then are these so-simple life lessons not being taught in every single school, from kindergarten on up? Because there isn’t a standardized test that can be given to measure the lesson? Maybe. But don’t get me started on testing. And space isn’t a problem either, it’s the 21st-century dammit — there are indoor veggie growing kits and other ways to make it work, so inner city schools can do this too. There are no excuses.
I dunno the answers, to this or just about any other question, but I have a hunch that this essential grow it/clean it/cook it/eat it curriculum might be the most basic of solutions to one of our biggest problems.
Teach the children well, teach them to cook.
