All Saints’ Day School Organic Garden
© Meredith Mullins

Stand Up for Real Food

Remember the first time you planted a radish seed in elementary school. You were mesmerized as you watched the little patch of loose earth, waiting for that sprout to appear. The few days seemed like an eternity. But, finally, there it was, pushing the earth aside to stretch up toward the sun.

A Sprout Worth Waiting For
© Thinkstock

For me, at age seven, watching that first little sprout uncurl and straighten up was a life-changing experience. I had actually grown something, nurtured it to life. And I proclaimed, with a certainty not usually found at such a young age, that I was going to be a farmer.

Flash forward to lots of young children having a similar aha moment. Only now, these life-changing experiences are happening in school gardens—where the idea of healthy, organic food takes root; branches out to various parts of an education program; and gains momentum from media headlines:

• Michelle Obama is a high-profile champion for this important component of our lives—eating healthfully and staying fit.
• Chefs like Alice Waters and Jamie Oliver are leading food revolutions—encouraging the use of fresh, organic ingredients.

Many advocates for healthy eating are charging forward with Jamie Oliver’s battle cry:

Stand up for real food!

These words can inspire an OIC moment. The real OIC revelation is probably not when we acknowledge that healthy eating is a good thing but rather when we make healthy eating a part of our everyday lives. It’s more of an “Oh, I REALLY see” moment or an “Oh, I need to make this a priority” moment . . . all in the name of life-changing goals targeted to health and  longevity.

Life-Changing Experiences with Fresh, Organic Vegetables
© Thinkstock

Learning from Dirt, Scraps, Leafy Greens, and Chickens

One elementary school in California is notable for taking a stand for “real food.” The focus on healthy eating at the All Saints’ Day School in Carmel Valley, California, has been seamlessly integrated into the curriculum . . . and into the school lunch program.

The school is one of the first in the country to serve a 100% organic lunch (thanks to their partnership with a nearby organic farm). They have also launched a school garden—something that’s fun for students and also inspires integrated learning:

• In science, students learn about plant life cycles. They then follow the cycles first-hand as they prepare the garden beds, plant seeds, tend seedlings, provide water and nourishment for the soil, protect plants from disease and pests, and harvest when the vegetables are ready.

• Similarly, as they take care of a flock of chickens and collect fresh eggs from the hen house, they experience animal life cycles that connect to science concepts they are learning.

• Students learn the value of recycling when they collect food scraps from classroom snacks and the leftovers from the lunch program. This material is then composted for use in the school garden. On average, the students recover 11 pounds of food scraps per week.

• In art class, students are often inspired by the garden. They paint wooden panels for the sides of the plant beds and build scarecrow sculptures that shimmer in the sun.

Candace the Sculpted Scarecrow
© Meredith Mullins

• Health and nutrition concepts are integrated when students, who harvest the food from the garden and from the fruit trees, then prepare lunch delectables like fresh salads, kale and potato soup, and applesauce.

• The students also learn to give back to the community, as good citizens, when they prepare food baskets full of fresh produce and herbs from the garden for special occasions for local charities.

Mother Nature Delivers Life Lessons

A few days ago when I visited the garden, a rare frost for this part of the state had covered everything with a sparkly dusting of white. The plants that were once perky and warmed by the sun were now a little droopy. They looked decidedly cold.

I asked Garden Director and teacher Jan White if the students would be disappointed. “Maybe,” she said, “But they will learn an important life lesson: Mother Nature is always in charge.”

Garden Director Jan White
© Meredith Mullins

The students at this California school certainly learn about Mother Nature, but they also have life-changing experiences as they follow the life cycles of plants and animals and benefit from the fruits (and vegetables) of their labor. They are standing up for real food in the best possible way—in their academic curriculum and in their daily healthy eating habits.

To see more school gardens in action, visit Life Lab and School Gardens.

See Jamie Oliver’s TED Prize wish: Teach Every Child About Food

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

© Thinkstock

Thank You, Robbie Parker, for Your Inspiration 

After the December 14 tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary, our world will never be the same.

President Obama called on the nation to respond with “meaningful action.” Schools are making plans to increase their security. Policy makers are debating about creating more stringent gun laws.

But what meaningful action can I take today, right now, as an individual? My solemn Oh, I see moment came from the words of Robbie Parker, who lost his daughter Emilie last Friday:

“Let it not turn into something that defines us, but something that inspires us to be better, to be more compassionate, and more humble people.

Let us please keep the sentiments of love that we feel for our families and the compassion that we feel for others—even complete strangers—and keep them with us at all times, not just in times of sorrow and tragedy.

And may we do this so that we can better all of our communities, and all of our cities, and all our states so that we can make everyone, everywhere in this country feel safe.”

During Sunday’s service in Connecticut, Obama noted, “We can’t tolerate this anymore. These tragedies must end. And to end them, we must change.”

There must be powerful, long-lasting, meaningful change in our society. Thank you, Robbie Parker, for your words that inspire us as we take steps to make that change.

VIA Christian Science Monitor and Huffington Post

 Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.

Cleaning Up After the LA Riots
© Janine Boylan

Coming Together to Help

As I see photos of the mess that Sandy left behind, my thoughts go out to all of those who have suffered and lost and to those who have made one of life’s important choices: to help.

From Fear to Action in the LA Riots

During disasters, life choices stare you in the face. I had that Oh, I see moment in 1992 when another kind of disaster struck my hometown, Los Angeles.

Videos of Rodney King being beaten by police sparked riots during which neighbors rose up against neighbors simply because they had different ethnic backgrounds. People made destructive choices: they smashed windows, set fires, and ransacked local small stores.

As the news reporters covered this event in progress, I chose to huddle fearfully in my apartment behind locked doors.

The next morning, I heard that people were gathering in the middle of the city to clean up what had happened the night before. Something had changed. I needed to be there and help, and that’s when I made a bolder, different choice.

I pulled my truck into the gathering area and saw scores of people of all races and ages already there. I didn’t know a single other person, but within a few minutes, my truck bed was filled with people carrying shovels, brooms, garbage bags, and gloves. We drove slowly around the city and searched for places to clean up.

But this city, which only a few hours before had been blaring with fire-truck sirens and filled with shouts and crashing glass, was already quiet and clean. Early in the morning, hundreds of people had come out to clear away the rubble. There were so many of us, in fact, that my group struggled to find anything to clean up. We ended up pulling weeds from a vacant lot in an effort to do something to beautify the city again.

And then, as quickly as we had come together, we went our separate ways, leaving behind a cleaner, more caring community.

It certainly wasn’t the last time disaster struck the city, and the local shopkeepers still had to overcome the devastating loss that the previous night had brought them. But it showed me how, when a community needs help, especially in the darkest times, other people make the tough choice to lend a hand.

For me, participating in this brief LA clean-up was one of life’s choices that I will never forget because I learned, in this OIC moment, that making the choice to help others in my community was the best way to get through tough times: together.

Pitching In After Hurricane Sandy

I know the clean-up from Sandy will take much longer than a few hours. And while some people are taking advantage of the chaos to commit crimes like looting or soliciting money for fraudulent “charities,” there are already many stories of people making choices to stand up, clean up, and lend a hand.

• In Hoboken, New Jersey, people who still had power offered fresh coffee and extension cords to their neighbors who needed to recharge themselves and their cell phones.
• In several storm-ravaged cities, including New York City,  restaurant owners set out tables of food for anyone in need.
• The New York Times reports that the volunteer organization New York Cares has about 800 people helping in affected areas right now, and there are 6,000 more who have volunteered and are waiting for assignments.

And then this weekend, according to the Associated Press, hundreds of runners made a life choice: instead of being disappointed and leaving when the New York City Marathon was cancelled, they decided to stay in the city and help.

In Queens, one group ran up and down stairs in buildings that still are without power. These runners delivered water, blankets, and food to people who could not get out on their own.

Another group put on backpacks brimming with supplies and ran through devastated Staten Island neighborhoods where they delivered batteries, clothing, food, and more to the people there who have lost so much. 

As New York resident Esther Pan Sloane donated supplies to a relief center, she told The New York Times, “It feels like we all had the same impulse: This is my city and I want to do something to help it.”

There’s so much more to do, but it’s heartening to see so many who have decided to help. It’s one of life’s most important choices.

If you wish to help the victims of Sandy, learn more here.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.