Do you see the abundance?

Reposted from April 11, 2011
http://hipurbanfarmer.myblogsite.com/entry13.html#body

I choose to see the glass half full and I see a full glass when I garden. Because I know the time and effort it takes to grow peas, beans, potatoes, etc., I refuse to waste it. I only pick what I plan to eat when the vegetables are in season. There's little value in picking to save for later. Let it grow and have life until I need it. My motto becomes live simply so that others my live. 

I can't stand waste of any kind, now.  If I can compost food scraps, I'm fine, but meat and cheese cannot be composted. So in planning meals, it is helpful to be mindful of what you put on that salad. A salad with bacon and cheese cannot be composted.  Vegetable foods from my plate can be composted. With this in mind, I know that the vegetable scraps will not be wasted. Instead, these vegetable scraps will become compost that  will contribute to feeding the soil, and in turn the plants which will feed me.  This is the cycle of abundance.

Some may recall being admonished as a child to eat the vegetables because kids in other countries don't have enough food to eat.  How well did that strategy work?
Jacob, eat your veggies. There are kids starving in South America.
AWW Ma!! I hate peas. Jacob uses his fork to shift the peas from one side of the plate to the other.
Maybe if Jacob actually saw where those peas came from he might eat them and take a sense of pride in the fact that he grew them.  The peas on the plate, if your lucky came from a frozen bag that traveled all the way from California, where someone picked and shelled those peas.  However, all you saw was the peas being boiled to mush in a a pot on the stove. Mmm mmmm, deeeelishuus. NOT!
Fresh vegetables and fruits picked from the garden a few minutes before preparing and eating are the most nutritious and delicious. If these fresh fruits and vegetables are lacking, but junk food is widely available our country ensures that kids are malnourished, especially in urban areas. Therefore, I am arguing that urban farming is important for growing real food and getting kids to eat their vegetables. So there!
Sources of Inspiration:
Johnson, W. (2002). Healthy Environment, Healthy Children, Healthy Future: The Role of Urban Agriculture and Pesticides. Electronic Green Journal, N.PAG. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Guard, R. (2007, Winter2007). The fat of the land. Canadian Organic Grower. p. 66. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Mead, M. (2008). The Sprawl of Food Deserts. Environmental Health Perspectives, 116(8), A335. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.