I eat my peas with honey, I’ve done it all my life,
They do taste quite funny, but it keeps them on my knife.
Spike Milligan
I imagine that Spike’s mother may had uttered a sigh of desperation back in the day when she observed her son’s penchant for the sweet stuff. That and his lack of regard for what implement he used to transport said sweet green ball of freshness from plate to mouth. However I suspect she also just gave over to it and comforted herself with the fact that eating the peas are better than letting them to just roll around the plate needlessly until they eventually roll onto the floor to be found days later shrivelled, dry & in multiple corners of her humble abode.
In keeping with the general poetic theme that is running through this piece so far I have created a motherly ditty.
I feel that you all have been here long enough at this stage for me to share it with you.Stand aside Spike Milligan. In my (humble) opinion at that time I felt it was a literary work of genius. There’s a new kid in town. You’ve done your time, paid your dues and as a reward I feel you should be exposed to this artistic production. Don’t all scream at once now mind.
Here we go:
I spend hours making dinner
This one is sure to score
A hit with my lil’ winner
Nah, he’s just flicked it on the floor
Am I the only one out there who has moments of desperation after pouring their heart and soul into a nutritious, balanced, healthy meal only for it to be cruelly rejected? The biggest kick in the teeth being when it is given the cold shoulder without them even as much as tasting it. The smell, the texture, the taste, the colour, the fork, the plate, the day of the week, the weather, you name it…..anything can be the nail in the coffin for your culinary work of art.
I simply know that my kitchen is not the only kitchen in Ireland that is awash with buttered pasta. I know that I am not alone here. I know that many of you understand and share these feelings. Empathy is what we call it…with a good dose of sympathy on a particularly bad day (such as the time when I placed 2 roast chicken carcasses on the table and 3rd born promptly RETCHED onto the kitchen table – or “sick yawned” as he recalls it. It was all very dramatic.) To this day he cannot stand the sight or sound of roast chicken. But where did he actually think it came from?
And therein lies my problem. He had NO CLUE where anything on his plate had come from. Other than from the oven. No participation in buying it, preparing it, cooking it or plating it up. It simply came from me as the milk in came from the fridge. This was the day that I decided we need a vegetable patch.
Whilst I know many of you are steps ahead of us I also know that many are not. No room for a veggie patch, no clue how to get started or no inclination to get growing when, let’s face it, we don’t have the NEED to anymore. Everything is so readily available.
This is why I am so excited to get involved with The innocent big grow campaign. It’s the season for it. By getting kids involved in growing the fruit or vegetables themselves, we are no only giving them something to do for a few hours but also teaching the science of growing. By helping them to understand where fruit and vegetables come from they are more likely to eat (and enjoy) eating them. The innocent big grow is about setting them up for a life time of healthy eating habits.
This is known in the business as Food Empathy – it leads to a deeper connection with the food and is proven to lead to a healthier life in the long term. We have started growing our pea’s from home. Whilst the seventh year of the innocent Growing Initiative it is the first year there are home growing kits available. Your kids may be doing this at school as part of the campaign already this year or in previous years.
So let’s keep those dinners on the plates and off the floors. Let’s keep the knives and honey away from the dinner table. Let’s have fun and educate our children as to where food actually comes from. Let’s instil a sense of achievement and pride in them. Let’s get growing and eating.
Your’s, looking forward to pea soup in the near future,
Cli
