Ayanfe Free  demonstrates how to stir-fry delicious leafy greens for the young participants of the garden project.  Photo: Shiloh Garden Project

By Susan Carrara, Freida Nash, and Ayanfe Free

The young girl had gamely eaten home-grown carrots, squash, radishes, and beans, but she gazed skeptically at the stir-fried Swiss chard on the end of her fork. She had helped clean it, chop it, and watched as the adults cooked it – but she would have none of it.
Finally, after watching us serve ourselves, seeing us clearly enjoying the creamy texture and delicious taste, she tried the chard. A smile broke out on her formerly puckered up face as she pronounced it “good.”

Teaching children to grow, harvest, cook, and enjoy produce from community gardens is part of the Strong Roots Children’s Gardening Program, a collaboration between the Bountiful Cities Project (BCP) and the Shiloh Community Association (SCA).

Because children are receptive to cooking food from “their” gardens, and eager to participate in creating and sampling a new dish, the program inculcates more informed and inquisitive attitudes about food and the cycles of nature through teaching, discussion, working in the garden, and preparing food.

The program also works to increase Asheville communities’ food security, i.e., having reliable access to healthful, affordable, and culturally appropriate food. In 2008, the Shiloh Community Association and the Bountiful Cities Project jointly hosted a discussion of food security in “From the Ground to the Plate: the First Annual African-American Sponsored Food Security Forum.”

This year’s forum, scheduled for October 10, will offer support for people who are interested in growing food at their homes or in community gardens and provide information about how to incorporate fresh, organic, homegrown foods into meals – both preparing them and making them affordable.

Freida Nash takes the children on a neighborhood exploration where they discover wild blackberries.  Photo: Shiloh Garden Project

Food security begins at the grassroots when people become confident that they can survive and thrive. One way to empower and inform adults is through the knowledge and enthusiasm of their children.

The children participating in this summer’s Strong Roots program became more aware of and curious about their food in many ways, and they brought that enthusiasm home with them. They also brought home the skills and confidence they learned about food preparation, and many began to ask permission to take produce home to cook with their families – a joint activity that leads to strong bonding and positive communication between parents and children.

Among the highlights of the summer program, the children:
•    discovered that “Sky Juice” (plain, natural water) is a delicious substitute for soda and sweet punch;
•    learned about raising chickens and visited a neighbor’s backyard flock;
•    found and tasted wild blackberries and other edible and medicinal native plants growing along the side of the road;
•    monitored the growth of the community’s vegetables, and
•    continually reminded the adults about the promised vegetable stir-fry from their garden produce.