Eating from the Land

This week in class we took a field trip down to the University of Washington “Farm”. On this small plot of land there are dozens of different plants of fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers wonderfully growing. It was nice to see fresh and healthy food straight from the ground as opposed to the processed dorm food I’m now used to.

Being on the “farm” reminded me a lot about being back in my hometown Of Winters, CA. It is a small 14,000 person town located about an hour from the state capital of California, Sacramento. At home, I have the gift of being able to go out into my family garden during different times of the year and get fresh tomatoes, peppers, rosemary, basil, oranges, lemons, grapefruit, pomegranates, or walnuts. However, I used to take all this for granted. Now that I am in this more urban environment where I have less control of what I’m eating in the dorms, I realize how lucky I was to be able to go right out my back door, pick a few ripe, red tomatoes and basil, and made a delicious tomato, basil, and mozzarella platter. There is nothing like homegrown tomatoes, freshly picked, still warmed from the sun.



Now that I have realized how gratifying it is to eat something home grown, I know I will always have to have a little garden of my own, packed with various fruits and veggies. Next time I’m home, I can promise I will be in the garden right away, picking the various foods of the season.