Food

When I was a little boy my father would take us all back to Tennessee for summer vacation. We always enjoyed going there, and a big draw was the small farm that belonged to my grandparents. We loved going to the farm better than just about anything. Looking back, I can see that the farm formed me in many ways.

I'm sure that part of that formation was due to my father's mentoring. He wanted his "city boys" to understand the farm and how it works. He made sure that we were standing around and listening when he had conversations with our relatives who worked the land. He took time to teach us about the different crops - hay, wheat, corn, tobacco, and sorghum - what they were for and when they were planted. He taught us about rotating the crops and letting certain fields lie fallow for a season (a farming technique that is no longer necessary because of our modern high-powered fertilizers). I think that he wanted us to understand the farm and the farmers, but most of all he wanted us to have respect for them and their traditions.

Well, speaking of traditions, this is one. Once a year, when the wheat in our surrounding rural areas begins to turn golden, I encourage people to "take a ride in the country" and drink in the feast of colors that spring provides. I also ask families to do a little home-schooling by teaching their children about where their food comes from. The wheat at this time of the year is beautiful, and it is easy to identify. You might have more difficulty with the young green crops, but generally they will be corn or maize. Though much of our food these days comes from large corporate farms, I am always mindful of and grateful for the small farmers and their families. They do what they love, and we are all the beneficiaries of their stewardship of the land.

As you know, food these days is a high-priced commodity. But in parts of the world it is increasingly a rare commodity. We might complain about the dollars spent at the local supermarket, but there are many areas in the world that are facing life-threatening shortages. It can be rather challenging to think about the fact that something that we take for granted is the primary, perhaps only, thing on the minds of some of the world's people.

Given the fact that we now live in a flat world, I can't think of a better time to teach our children about the value of food and where it comes from. Show them a radiant field of wheat and, if there is a breeze, point out to them why the song says "amber waves of grain." And tell them that the wheat is what their bread is made of, along with their cookies and pasta and the best part of their chicken tenders. And take just a moment to remind them that, in spite of Nintendo's and Gameboys and all the other toys, in the eyes of most of the children of the world, food is still our most valuable commodity.

Don Underwood