Seven-year-old Tomika Bell stomped down the dusty row of her family’s Philadelphia, Miss., farm. It was hot, and the little girl had no interest in farming. Her father reminded her, as he had on many occasions, that the garden provided food for them including tomatoes, squash, okra, eggplant, peas, corn and greens.
Bell grudgingly took the watermelon seeds in her hand and prepared the ground for planting. The family employed a no-till farming method, which meant using a hoe to create the pockets for the seeds. As she worked, Bell mumbled under her breath that there was no reason to grow so much produce just for their family. Her father guided her as she added the seeds to the soil.
A few months later, Bell’s cousin came to visit. After playing, the two sat outside together and enjoyed the sweet red meat of watermelon from Bell’s family garden. The produce did not just provide for their family but for others in the tribal nation—a lesson Bell did not completely understand until she was much older.
“It wasn’t just providing for us; it was for our whole family, gatherings that might have been someone’s birthday or some sort of holiday coming,” Bell told the Mississippi Free Press. “When you’re a little kid you’re like, ‘If it’s just us eating, then why are we growing so much?’ There was a lot left over. That was his way of giving back to the community, by letting other people harvest the produce or food that they wanted.”
Now as an adult and the co-director of the Mississippi Farm to School Network, Bell recognizes the importance of having access to fresh food and produce. The group offers resources for schools on how to start school gardens, organizes farm tours, and provides programs to educate children and families about the importance of eating locally grown, nutritious food. The network also partners schools with farmers who can provide them with fresh produce.
“In the schools there’s a lot of regulations, so we’re the ones that are the mediators helping them get into the schools,” Bell said. “We
Read original article by clicking here.