by Sean Croxton

Click HERE for Part 1.

It went well.

Last Saturday, I had the privilege of presenting at the Black Male Empowerment Summit at Georgia Southern University (GSU). In the hours leading up to the first of my two talks, I wondered if these young men (and a few women) would even be interested in listening to me babble about holistic health and wellness for an hour. Turns out they were.

They raised their hands and asked great questions.

They shared their own experiences.

They expressed their frustrations with the limited access to healthy food.

These young people really cared.

Despite their interest in the topic, I wondered if I had really made an impact — would any of my attendees actually put the information to use?

Then this week, while I read Will Allen’s book The Good Food Revolution for the second time, I came across a passage regarding a recent study of one hundred sixth-graders who had participated in a hands-on, garden-based nutrition education program. Allen writes,

“(These students were compared) with two other groups: students who were taught nutrition lessons in a classroom and those who were given no nutrition education at all. The researchers found no significant difference a year later in the vegetable and fruit consumption of children without nutrition education and those who received nutrition classes. The students who received hands-on training in a garden, however, increased their fruit and vegetable intake by more than two servings a day.” (Allen, 160-161)

No, I don’t typically work with sixth-graders (then again, maybe I should), but I can’t help but wonder…