Who needs farms when there are grocery stores? The personal disconnect from farming and food has probably never been greater. School curriculum emphasizes the importance of a nutritious diet, but it is also important to understand the bigger story of food.

Big, Big, Big Farms

Farms grow food, but they've also grown in size over time. Have your students draw their own garden from a bird's-eye view. Have you ever grown or seen a vegetable garden? Imagine that everything you eat in a year is grown in that one garden.

Since most people don't grow or raise their own food, farmers have to use more space to grow enough to feed not only themselves but many other people also. Back in 1940, each farmer fed eleven people; by 2002, each farmer fed ninety people. With a growing population, farms have gotten bigger and bigger and bigger. Put all of your students' gardens together on the wall to show how quickly the farm grows.

These big farms, known as industrial farms, are useful because fewer people can grow more food. That means most people don't need to worry about growing the food they eat. They can do other things with their lives like write books or race cars or fly planes. Yet, in order for fewer people to grow more food, they have to find ways to be very efficient, meaning they can't waste any time or money. They have to be fast and do things cheaply.

Think of your garden, and picture going out and picking the weeds that pop up in between the plants. It's important to get rid of the weeds because they compete with the edible garden plants for water, sun, and soil nutrients (plant food). If you had to pick the weeds from everyone's gardens, it would be a lot more difficult and take a lot more time. Industrial farms use pesticides to kill the weeds because it saves time. However, these chemicals end up killing bugs like butterflies and bees in addition to the weeds. They also sink into the soil and soak down into our groundwater (the water underground that most of our drinking water is drawn from). They can also end up in the food that is grown at the farm.

The Natural Recipe for Farming

People can farm without hurting the planet if they keep the planet in mind while they're farming. Organic or sustainable farms try to grow food and raise animals as close to what Mother Nature intended as possible. They don't use any harmful chemicals for killing weeds; they don't use sewage sludge (which is what people flush down their toilets!) to fertilize their fields; they feed their animals natural food; and they do whatever they can to protect the Earth as they farm. Take a virtual organic farm tour at www.ecokidsonline.com. Just look for “My Visit to an Organic Farm” and let your students explore without leaving the classroom. When you're done, write your own organic “Farmer in the Dell” song.

One specific part of the Earth sustainable farmers try hard to protect is the soil. Without healthy soil, they can't grow food. There are a lot of ingredients needed for healthy soil, including our friends the earthworms (actually, it's their poop that makes soil healthy). Make your own classroom worm farm by downloading the worm guide from www.ciwmb.ca.gov/schools/curriculum/worms.

A second part of this project is to buy two identical plants. Scoop out the worm poop and worm juice every now and then and feed it to one of the potted plants (mark them so you know which one to feed). Watch and see what happens. Is one growing more quickly than the other? Does it look healthier? This is why it's important to protect the soil and the creatures that live in it. The pesticides and other chemicals that industrial farmers use can kill these helpful creatures. Pick up a copy of Worms Eat Our Garbage: Classroom Activities for a Better Environment by Mary Appelhof, Mary Frances Fenton, and Barbara Loss Harris to find more ideas to get your students wriggling.

Earthworm Survey

Spring is the ideal time to check for earthworm activity. Wait until the soil temperature is at least 50°F and soil moisture content at the surface is 20 percent or more. Using a shovel or spade, dig a cube of soil measuring roughly a foot on each side, and lay it next to the hole on the ground's surface. Break it apart and look for earthworms. You'll find at least ten earthworms per cubic foot in healthy soil. Repeat the procedure at several locations in your garden or schoolyard. If your soil's average is fewer than ten worms per cubic foot, it's time to add more organic matter like compost to your soil.