Is Obama Plan To Have Your Kids Labor In School Victory Gardens To Offset Cafeteria Costs A Good Idea?
June 18th, 2009President Obama, talking to the AMA, has suggested that kids in American schools could work in their schools’ victory gardens, to offset cafeteria budgets – and emulate his wife and the children who maintain the White House victory garden.
What kind of fruits or vegetables would you like your children to grow?
Can kids handle crops like cotton?
I think it is better than the idea that ketchup is a vegetable like the GOP support.
Working in a garden would be good for children. It teaches them about nature, biology, farming, nutrition. Many Americans don’t understand the basics of where food comes from. The best and easiest vegetables to grow would be tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, lettuce. They might grow potatoes and corn too depending on land available and type of soil.
I’d like my children to learn to grow whatever fruits and vegetables grow in their climate, obviously. Learning to cultivate food is something that, within a couple of generations, people have largely forgotten how to do. I would have taken courses in it, if I could have. Should civilization collapse, this would be one of the most important skill sets to have. I’m being completely serious.
Your likening this idea to slavery is absurd. We “force” children to learn math and grammar, but there’s nothing wrong with that. We “force” them to line up in elementary school. You don’t liken that to Nazism or slavery. You are using the slavery comparison to try to ridicule an Obama idea that is not a bad idea at all.
It’s a good idea, but why this on top of everything else kids are supposed to do these days. Hours and hours of homework, participating in voluteer programs, not of their choosing, Liberal-approved curriculum which involves sex education, and maybe participation at young ages. Homosexual indoctrination, being told bring a Bible to school is illegal, but guns are okay.
Bibles are apparently more lethal than guns. Ten-year-olds learning and using birth control methods then teachers and parents are shocked when their sons and daughters are parents at 15 and 16. How’s that working for the betterment of society? Kids having kids.
And they’re supposed to tend a Government mandated garden? Wonder what they’ll be told to grow. I’m sure it will have to be “green” friendly plants.
A cotton joke?
You can tell that school’s let out for the summer.
I think it’s a brilliant idea (coming from someone who’s consistently been dropping stinkers since January 21st) and can’t believe that we haven’t done it sooner.
Agriculture is becoming a lost art in this country and really is the only production we have left in this country. The only things we can export now are fruit, vegetables ignorance and fat people, so really, it all comes full circle.
I don’t know whether he actually said that, but it sounds like a great idea to me. Glad to hear someone is thinking creatively.
Regarding the second part of your question, I’m not so concerned about what vegetable are chosen, but I’d hope that organic gardening techniques are used.
I don’t know whether kids can handle cotton. That wouldn’t be an issue for me, here in Minnesota.
What happened to the Republican mantra of “self sufficiency”? Does it only apply if its a Republican idea?
My kids work in a garden at their school, its really not a bad thing and they’re pretty proud of the vegetables they harvested. Not to mention it gives them another source of practical education they can use to become less reliant on government intervention. I thought thats what Republicans wanted…. damn hypocrites
Did you see that Obama wants to eliminate Summer Vacation for kids and lengthen the school day including WEEKENDS!… with MORE homework??
“It’s not surprising that Education Secretary Arne Duncan has recommended using funds to lengthen the school day and the school year and even adding weekends to the school calendar.”
Yeah, that would be terrible is kids learned to tend a garden at school. Hahahahahahahaha. You realize children all over the world help tend farms and gardens.
My father grew up in small town Georgia. His parents had a huge farm. He and his siblings put in a LOT of hours. It didn’t seem to hurt them any. I don’t think growing snap peas and tomatoes will harm anyone.
Your railing against a vegetable garden? You care clearly out of ideas. I think starting a gardening program at schools is a good idea. My school system has a high school that teaches agricultural science. Its a good program and a good alternative for some students.
I don’t see where a garden is much different from other class projects; it’s a way to make everything from science to geography more interesting and accessible to young students. If the project creates something that is useful to the school, so much the better.
It would be a good idea to make this a subject to be taught in school. However, with school out in the summer I fail to see its workability.
I don’t see a problem with students learning a bit of labour. This would be good for them in the long run.
That kind of work is demeaning and degrading for prison inmates and welfare recipients but I guess its ok for school kids.Maybe they could donate the food to the the less fortunate prison inmates and terrorists.
I love the victory garden idea. My local school has enough outside area to put in a small garden. The civic association and the horticultural society are going to help us start one. What’s wrong with that?
Do you really think Michelle and the kids traipse around the garden in their $500 sneakers? They’ll probably make the good children grow government regulated crops, like marijuana and tobacco.
You live on hate, no food and drinks necessary. My kids already have a healthy attitude towards this planet and don’t mind gardening, thank you.
Leave it to a Republican to turn learning self sufficiency into a bad thing. You are over the top as usual .Can you say Republican party membership at 2%?
My city has a few very large urban gardening programs. They partner with local schools. The kids love it. City kids don’t have much opportunity to learn about this stuff.
Your vision is misplaced.
Corn is a good crop. It grows very tall and can easily hide the bodies of the fallen children.
Isn’t child labor illegal in the United States?
Maybe gardening can replace the Phys Ed programs most schools cut out.