young bud

"How you so dunce", "you go work land", "you go work in d road",  these are some quotes from some teachers in my time in school. Students giving trouble in class or lagging behind in school work would have this said to them. There is an old saying, "sticks and stones may break my bones but names cannot hurt me" but I beg to differ. Those few words have impacted the young generation in such a negative way about agriculture, now it's plain to see . With such a tainted image, farming or just any thing to do with agriculture is the job that young people wants nothing to do with.

 The old Chinese saying, "give a man a fish and you feed him today, but teach him to fish and you feed him for a lifetime".  This is a quote from Joseph Braveboy, "teach a child to sow a seed and he will reap a harvest". We need to teach our children the importance of Agriculture and the importance of eating healthy. Where do we start? 

 The farmers that produce most of our foods are over the age of 60 and dying out.  Most of our lands are being sold to accommodate housing. Our beautiful country is now bombarded by produce that has a high percentage of chemical residues and the talk of GMO's is a major concern.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_organism.

 I grew up on a farm and saw my father doing certain things and wondered why he was doing them,  for example he would  have cattles on pen and have to bend and cut grass for them every day. When he clears the land, he would inturn bury the grass when he is forking (plowing). My fathe, would also rotate his plants. Now that I have grown I fully understand why he did those things, even though it was really hard work. He did those things to make certain to have quality produce that would be safe for consumption, for us as his children, the consumers who he would sell to and also the safety of the land.

 In every seed there is life so if we want agriculture to survive we have to start with our seed (our children). The bud of a plant is a new extension of that plant. That old part will eventually wither away and the young bud begins to bloom. Our children should be that bud in agriculture.


 On my farm I teach my children to plant, rear rabbits, goats and ducks. The manure is used as  fertilizer for the plants.  I am now teaching them the types of plants and insects that are friendly that would aid in warding off pest and diseases. Kids are eager to learn and they are curious, with the right incentives as a form of motivation makes it much better.

 If this generation fails in teaching young people  the importance of agriculture, food security, nutrition and climate change, we have lost the fight, of preserving what God has bless us with and what he told us to replenish.