The Tribune

By TIM HAUBER

LOOKING back over the past year at the Centre for Training and Innovation (CTI) farm in Rock Sound, Eleuthera, undoubtedly, one of the highlights for me as the farm development officer has been the chance to tour so many people through our farm operation. I have had the opportunity to meet and give tours to hundreds of people from all over the world, including elementary and high school groups, college students, church groups, and visiting scientists, professors, farmers, and agri-business professionals.

Our farm tours showcase the sustainable, nature-friendly techniques we use to grow food here at CTI, but we also spend time teaching about our ancestral food history and the vital role food plays in personal health and wellness and the overall well-being of our communities. Discussing food and its origin gives us such a tangible connection with the history of our islands and the people who inhabited them over the centuries. It is always a shocker to think about the fact that, as a nation, we currently import 95 percent of our food and are less healthy now than we were when we grew much of our food ourselves. In my opinion, education and empowerment must start with our children if we want to give them the gift of health-promoting habits that last a lifetime. This revolution can start at home with simple backyard farming or by spending time with your children learning and volunteering at a local farm.

I am always amazed by the sense of wonder and curiosity children demonstrate when visiting the farm. Children are genuinely intrigued to see cucumbers growing on a vine climbing vertically to the roof or lettuce floating across our hydroponic pond. The number of scientific principles that can be reinforced by looking around a farm and asking basic questions about ‘how’ and ‘why‘ is vast and can become a launchpad for young people to develop a love for the sciences and food production.

Some of the many benefits of children spending time on a farm include:

A better understanding of where our food comes from

We all tend to take it for granted that food comes from the grocery store, but for those kids who have not grown up on a farm or don’t have a garden at home, it is a powerful thing to see food being grown on a farm in their community.

A decrease in the disdain for eating vegetables

Encouraging children to eat more vegetables is an everyday battle for most parents. The data is clear that we can enjoy better health if we fill at least half of our plates with vegetables, but transitioning from highly processed foods to vegetables can be challenging. When kids see vegetables on the farm and can harvest and taste them right from the ground, they are much more likely to eat them as a regular part of their diet.

More awareness of the cycle of life

When raising animals or plants, there is a constant cycle of birth/germination and death. Kids exposed to the joys and sorrows of this life cycle have an opportunity to develop a resilience that will serve them well in their life journey.

Improved understanding of diversity

Grocery stores tend only to stock perfect-looking fruits and vegetables; however, the reality is that normal fruits and vegetables come in various shapes, shades, and sizes and can have all sorts of scars and mild deformations. It is an important lesson to learn that just because something does not look ‘perfect’ like what is portrayed in an advertisement does not mean it is any less valuable.

Valuing the role of farmers

No food shows up automatically in the grocery store. Behind every piece of food, there is a process, and there are farmers. Farmers are incredibly hard-working people with vast experience and wisdom that goes into successfully growing crops. As a country, we need the brightest minds to get involved with agriculture to help us shift the trend of importing so much of the food we eat. Bringing children to modern and exciting farms opens the doors of their imagination and can illuminate agriculture as a possible career choice.

Greater self-empowerment

One powerful way for people to take some control over their lives is to grow and cook their own food. It is empowering to know that you are not entirely dependent on any government or organisation to supply you with food. Hopefully, kids will be inspired and encouraged to grow some of their own food once they see it being produced on a local farm.

As we continue here at CTI and One Eleuthera Foundation to play our role in educating children and our communities about where food comes from and how it can be grown in a healthy, environmentally responsible, and sustainable manner, I challenge everyone to find ways to help the next generation learn more about the food they eat every day. Knowledge is power. The more we teach our children about growing food and healthy eating, the faster we can reverse the health epidemic we now face in The Bahamas, from eating too much highly processed foods.

• Tim Hauber is the farm and growhouse operations officer at CTI & OEF. Established in 2012, the One Eleuthera Foundation (OEF) is a non-profit organisation located in Rock Sound, Eleuthera. For more information, visit www.oneeleuthera.org or email info@oneeleuthera. org.