Dear Readers,
In 1955, conservationist Rachel Carson wrote about experiencing nature alongside her young grandnephew when he visited her cottage on Westport Island. As they explored the wonders of woods and shore, the experience allowed her to see with fresh eyes. In The Sense of Wonder, Carson details the magical feeling she experienced to readers who might also want to introduce a child to something they themselves need to rediscover.
“For the child,” Carson explains, “it is not half so important to know as to feel. If facts are the seeds that later produce knowledge and wisdom, then the emotions and the impressions of the senses are the fertile soil in which the seeds must grow. … It is more important to pave the way for the child to want to know than to put him on a diet of facts he is not ready to assimilate.”
In this issue of edible MAINE, we’ve assembled stories to help parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles guide the next generation of eaters toward establishing an emotional connection to local food. In “Maine Trail Mix”, we pair kid-friendly hikes with nearby family-friendly breweries so that after experiencing nature together, parents can enjoy a local brew while the whole family shares a meal. We chat with chef Jason LaVerdiere, owner of Flux in Lisbon Falls, about how he experiences farm-to-table life with his brood. We ask budding food writers attending The Telling Room’s farm camp to explain how green tastes, radishes smell, soil feels, and a field of vegetables sounds.
In “Eating for Generations to Come”, Ann Pollard Ranco explains how her family’s food foraging skills are grounded in Indigenous principles that protect foodways for seven generations hence. We tap science journalist Marina Schauffler to explain the changing state of forever chemicals cropping up in our food. “Know Fish” columnist Colles Stowell outlines five tips on talking to littles about sustainable seafood. Contributor Nina Murray tells the story of Farmer Steph, a tenacious woman working to push farms as alternative classrooms for Maine schoolchildren. And photographer and mom Amber Rogals details both her philosophy and her recipes for using pizza to teach about local food.
The theme that snakes through all these stories goes back to the main point of Carson’s essay: The best way to experience nature and agriculture is to do it together. Cooking and consuming good, local food follows the same principle.
“The sharing includes nature in storm as well as calm, by night as well as day, and is based on having fun together rather than on teaching,” concludes Carson.
I could not agree more.
Best,
Christine
