How Gardening Could Save Our Kids
The USDA recommends that children eat at least 7 servings of fresh fruits and vegetables every single day. But the startling facts are that on any given day, 50% of children in America don’t eat even a single fresh fruit or vegetable! And us adults aren’t doing much better – we eat only 3 servings of fruits and veggies a day on average.
It’s all the more scary when you look at childhood obesity, skyrocketing death rates in children from cancer, and young kids suffering from chronic diseases only previously seen in adults like Adult Onset Diabetes (Type II Diabetes) and chronic autoimmune disorders. We need to help our kids make healthier food choices!
What better way to help our kids than to help them grow a garden? It could be the start of something life changing for them – and for all of us.
Starting a family garden can also help with food safety and food security. We’ve all heard of the recalls and deaths from salmonella, e. coli and other food poisoning breakouts. It’s much safer to grow our food at home! And it could also help provide more food security for us as a nation – because nothing is more secure than a local family garden (unless the deer or rabbits get to it!).
Imagine how our children’s health and future would change if everyone had a small family garden or community garden!
No Room For A Garden
For those of you who don’t have room to start a garden, maybe you live in a big city or a tiny apartment, there’s new hope for you too! There are now home garden kits using hydroponics or aeroponics that can grow an enormous amount of fresh produce in a very small space.
These vertical growing home aeroponics systems can often fit 20-30 plants that grow without any soil – which means no weeding or hard maintenance. They can grow indoors, outdoors and even on rooftops. All you have to do for maintenance is refill the water tank and nutrient solution every other week or so. Not only that, but you can also grow 2-3x faster in aeroponics kits which means you can harvest your food much faster. Growing aeroponically also reduces water use by as much as 90% – so it’s a perfect green solution for anyone living in a city with no land for gardening.
Most kits are small so your young children will be able to reach the plants, help you start seedlings, and even harvest the fresh fruits and vegetables right from the vertical garden! Most kits run $500-$600 and many families find that they end up saving more money on their grocery bills thanks to the abundance of fresh produce from the garden.
So now there’s no excuse! Whether you want to garden outside, indoors or on your rooftop, the sky is the limit when it comes to starting a family garden.
This article written by Tom Corson-Knowles, founder of Authentic Health Coaching. Tom blogs regularly about nutrition, healthy eating, and growing your own fresh organic food at www.TomCorsonKnowles.com/blog
Source: WFM 1-10