I will start with a disclaimer: I do not have a “green thumb.”  In fact, none of my fingers seems well-suited to gardening.  I was born and raised in a concrete jungle, so my exposure to nature was pretty limited before adulthood.  But while I may not be a natural at making things grow, I have come to love raising food in my own earth.

There is nothing to make a home cook feel quite as proud as producing a meal for the family that is entirely home-grown.  And there’s nothing quite like a garden to teach kids about where their food comes from and why it’s important to take care of their fruit & veggie-growing planet!  Now that Michelle Obama has dug up part of the White House lawn to teach her girls and the rest of the country this very lesson, it seems like a good time for the rest of us to follow suit.

Start digging

Planting a garden is easy, even for someone without a “green thumb” – and it doesn’t require a lot of space, or even a backyard.  Your family garden can be an acre or two, a single bed or even a few pots sitting on a sunny windowsill.  The idea is simply to dig up some good-quality, chemical-free soil or pour it into a container and get planting!  Organic seeds are the safest bet as they are free from genetic modifications and other scary things.  Good clean water, some sunlight, and your kids are officially farmers!

An outdoor classroom

A garden is the ideal environment to teach kids many lessons that go beyond the food they’ll grow.  The responsibility of planting, tending to and harvesting their crops will create the same sort of accountability as other household chores, but the sense of pride they’ll get will probably outweigh how they feel after doing dishes or making beds.

Gardening is also a great way to teach kids about the symbiotic relationships between and among plants and insects.  What a great metaphor for team-work and getting along!  Their plants will flourish because the plant next-door protects it from predators and, in turn, the first plant deposits nutrients and makes richer soil for the whole garden.  Birds, bees, butterflies and other insects will get in on the act, too, making a backyard ecosystem that your kids helped create.

There is no better way than gardening for children to see first-hand that ours is a fragile planet, in need of special care and attention.  Left unwatered, their crops will surely wither.  And if dangerous chemicals, garbage or other waste should get into their little farms, well, it would be catastrophic.  What a poetic way to show children that they each play a part in the health and well being of the environment.

Serious matters

Gardening is more than just a charming lesson about Mother Nature.  Today, the stakes are alarmingly high with Childhood Obesity ranked as an "Epidemic" by health agencies. One scary result of the current financial crisis is that families looking to cut costs are turning to cheaper foods, which, by definition, are the least healthy options.  The statistics say it all, with obese children making up 17% of the population ages 6-19 according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and at risk for serious, life-long threats including: Coronary Heart Disease, Type 2 Diabetes, Cancers (endometrial, breast and colon), Hypertension (high blood pressure), Dyslipidemia, Stroke, Liver and Gallbladder Disease, Sleep Apnea and respiratory problems, Osteoarthritis and gynecological problems.

As scary as the preceding list is, it’s important to remember that Childhood Obesity and the dangers that go along with it are avoidable and reversible.  Experts agree that nutritional habits begin forming as soon as babies start eating solid foods –  before their palates have become accustomed to processed foods, added sugar and salt and other nutritional hazards.  Studies show that young children who are introduced to high-quality (preferably organic) produce will choose to keep fresh fruits and vegetables in their diets as they mature.

Many kids grow up thinking that fruits and vegetables “come from the grocery store,” but when children till soil, plant and water seeds and ultimately harvest their fruit, they are becoming part of the creation of their food. That leads to a greater appreciation of and respect for food grown in the earth, so kids will be more likely to get excited about eating healthily.

A garden … what a simple and lasting gift to put children on the right nutritional track for the rest of their lives.