What does 鈥減lant a seed and watch it grow鈥� have to do with a medical column? In one word, plenty. One of today鈥檚 medical disasters is that many children in this country are hungry and poor. Finally, a major pharmaceutical company has come up with a novel idea to eliminate this shameful social condition. According to the World Health Organization, malnutrition is the greatest threat to public health.
Canada, unlike many of its G8 counterparts, has no national child nutrition program. So, one in seven children live in poverty and hunger, with increased risk of a variety of health problems.
In the U.S., the Department of Agriculture says nine out of 10 Americans are deficient in potassium, eight out of 10 in vitamin E, seven out of 10 in calcium, and 50 per cent in vitamin A, C and magnesium.
Studies show that fruits and vegetables contain fewer nutrients than 50 years ago. Potatoes, which I die for, have lost 100 per cent of vitamin A, 57 per cent of vitamin C and iron, and 28 per cent of calcium.
You don鈥檛 require an MBA degree in agriculture to conclude that mineral deficient soil grows mineral deficient foods. A sick soil means sick plants, sick animals and sick people.聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 聽
Natural remedy manufacturer Natural Factors of 91原创 is attempting to solve this dilemma by trying to help create a healthier generation of children, who connect with the land by planting seeds and watching them grow.
A typical example is Natural Factors sponsorship of 91原创鈥檚 Sutherland Secondary School market garden.
The garden, created on school grounds, uses organic practices and intensive planting techniques to maximize productivity of the space. Studies show that children thrive when outside in nature, watching their seeds grow.
Today, with so many concerned about the warming of our planet, such gardens will increase green space, reduce heat and decrease carbon emissions. They also provide opportunities for children to eat more local vegetables and fruit, along with physical activity.
My congratulations go to Roland Gahler, president of Natural Factors, for giving this tragedy the attention it deserves. I sadly admit I鈥檓 a guilty party. For 40 years, I鈥檝e reported that obese children usually become obese adults. This leads to the epidemic of Type 2 diabetes and its disastrous complications, eventually triggering the epidemic of coronary attack.
So it鈥檚 good to be reminded that the other extreme, inadequate nutrition, is also a medical time-bomb. Malnourished children, short of vitamins and minerals, may be small in stature, suffer from fatigue, bleeding gums, anemia, aching bones and joints, night blindness, skin troubles and are more susceptible to infection.
Natural Factors wants to establish community gardens for children across the country, for them to plant seeds and watch them grow. The company will pay for seeds and all administrative costs related to the garden. Ideally, gardens should be established on school properties, but not necessarily.
In my teens, I planted potato and tomato seeds in the back lawn of our home and carefully provided them with water. I remember the excitement of seeing the tomatoes grow and digging up potatoes. It produced a proud feeling of being part of their growth along with the pleasure of eating my favourite foods.
I was too busy to return to growing vegetables when I opened a surgical practice in Toronto, but now my mind wanders back to a small elementary school in Chippawa, Ont., attended by all my children.
Maybe you鈥檝e guessed what I鈥檓 thinking. I鈥檇 like to see if a garden can be established at the school. If readers share my view that poor nutrition of our children should be past history, and want to become involved, go to .聽 聽
This project will have another effect. I recall the story of an inner-city child being asked, 鈥淲here does milk come from?鈥� He replied: 鈥淭he corner store.鈥� What a shame he had never seen a cow or planted a seed and watched it grow.
