It is evident to me that today’s child craves and needs connection with the natural world more than ever….whether working in the garden or forest, tending to the farm’s animals, or transforming farm products into delicious and nutritious meals. In an age of increasing “virtual” experiences and interactions, people of all ages need to engage in real, purposeful work alongside others, using the hands and body, on a regular basis. It is through such experiences that real growth and transformation of the individual, and ultimately our communities, can take place.

Before their minds have been marinated in the culture of television, consumerism, shopping malls, computers, and freeways, children can find the magic in trees, water, animals, landscapes and their own places. Properly cultivated and validated by caring and knowledgeable adults, fascination with nature can mature into ecological literacy and eventually into more purposeful lives.