horrible.

That is sad, but think what a nice thing you've done for him, giving him a whole new concept. You've planted a little seed there, I bet.

Well we're finally catching up with the 1800s/early-1900s here in the US and urban gardening more.

Even "front yard gardens" are becoming a lot more acceptable in many areas.

Agree. That's cool :-). I had (an innercity) neighbor kid beg me for a purple potato once ("I wanna eat that!!") it was kind of exciting.

Cassie, I bet the MAN upstairs put a mark on the plus side for you for that act. Nice move.

Shot

How marvelous to be able to give a kid a moment of wonder and amazement in his life.

That is sad....I think you may have inspired the wee one...but I have my own sad story. Years ago when my DD was young she was reading a story with a bean pole in it. She asked me what a bean pole was, when I explained to here it was a pole for beans to climb, she exclaimed, what are beans, and how do they climb?! Sad, very sad, this is the same kid that thought there was an actual pickle plant....where did this kid come from? She also can't stand the feel of dirt...and her Mom is a groundhog, imagine that?

Yes, it is very sad that so many children have no idea how their veggies start out, although there are some schools that do teach the basics such as having the little ones plant seeds in cups etc. but I am guessing most of those cups end up in the garbage when they get home. Reading about where food comes from is one thing but for a child seeing it, is the clincher! You are to be commended for taking the time to educate this child and I believe you did enjoy doing that and I bet he has alot to tell his friends and family if they will listen.

It's pervasive. Not just city living. We live in a county that just in the last year is starting to encroach on the broad term of "greater Atlanta Metropolitan area". We're still mostly cattle pasture and undeveloped land. I put in a garden at my son's preschool and when I asked where vegetables came from they answered in a chorus of "the grocery store." One kid out of 20 said they all came from his grandfather's farm. Gardening seems to be one of those honed skills that is falling by the wayside. My kids may not want to continue it when they grow up, but at least they'll know how to sew on a button, change a tire on their own, knit/crochet and pine for the taste of fresh veggies all their lives.

Hopefully.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Corner Yard

Cassie,
I know what you mean, ive been redisgning my garden (Pictures soon to be posted)and we have a new kid that moved in across the street, and he was quite surprised to learn about the diffrent vegetables that i was growing. He didnt know where the vegitables that he was used to eating were coming from (other than cans). So he ran across the street and asked his mom if he could start a small garden. I was quite impressed that he would follow my lead. I guess i now have a gardening student.

Mark

Wow

It's a shame really. My mom had a small garden when I was real young, but kinda gave up on it by the time I was 7 or so. Now, three years ago my wife and I bought a house in a small, mostly Italian, suburban town. Here, having a garden (sometimes a HUGE garden) is very common. This is the first year of our square foot garden and my kids are young enough (6 and 5) where they'll probably never remember a time when there wasn't a garden.

Here is a link that might be useful: Luke's SF Victory Garden

....only in America....

That sound was my jaw hitting the keyboard.

I live in a suburb and vegetable gardens are becoming more popular, although it's still a rarity in all those new subdivisions to have more than one or two tomato plants. Local schools are starting demonstration gardens for their students and a meetup group I organized is getting the city to pitch in with a community garden we want to cultivate.

My kid, by the way, is 23 months old and can say "pumpkin" in three languages. The future is not all gloomy.

I'm thinking that child is not so far from the truth about "making them in a factory." It seems the food producing industry is doing just that. With GMOs and vertical farms, we've gotten further from the "soil" every year.

So do I hear Soylent Green in the background noise.

This is why every inner city should clear out one of those abandon lots and turn it into a community garden.

Some suggestions on what you and I could do to bridge the gap:

Extend an invitation to The Fresh Air Fund to host a child.

Ask PBS to mandate of the producers of the endless cartoons aimed at youngsters to incorporate stories on gardening, and how to sucessfully grow berries, vegetables, flowers, and fruit.

Getting rappers (or whoever appeal to the youngsters) in on the act. Now that would be awe-inspiring....

Cassie, there's one kid who now DOES know where vegetable come from! Changing the world, one interaction at a time. I consider it a beautiful story about the power of children's desire to learn from interesting adults.