Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[Liz <liz@allslash.org>]

At 10:21 AM 12/27/2007, you wrote:
> When I was working
> as a checker at the local grocery store a few years back I accidentally
> dropped a potato on the floor. I picked it up and placed it back in the
> bag and continued on with my checking. The lady said she no longer wanted
> any of the potatoes because they were dirty. I still can't figure that
> out - they are grown in the dirt first of all and secondly wasn't she
> going to wash it and cook it (and possibly peel it) before eating it
> anyway?

Wish I could remember where I read this, but it was something to the
effect that part of the problem with the English-speaking mindset was
that the  word "dirt" had two meanings--the dirt in the
ground in which we grow our food, and the undesirable dirt that needs to
be removed. The article said we would have been better off if
"earth" were more widely used.

City kids are constantly told not to eat anything off the ground, so it's
not surprising that a child who didn't know where their food came from
would be reluctant to eat a carrot they saw pulled out of the ground. But
you'd think grown-ups would know better.

Liz in SW VA
http://life-as-a-spectator-sport.com