Photo: A. Gardner

I have always heard that if you want a child’s mind to grow you must first plant a seed.

We planted a few seeds this month.

Soybeans were in the headlines.

Culinary students were challenged to create their favorite American foods using vegetable soybeans and minimally processed soy foods as the center-of-the-plate star.

Harvest is a wonderful process.

Farming requires faith in things unseen. There is no straight line.

Exploring the potential impact of incorporating this ancient food into the American diet requires farming skills.

Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but the seeds that you plant.

                                                                                  -Robert Lewis Stevenson

A child growing up in America today is at high risk for diet-related disease. Harvard University reports that childhood obesity has been called “one of the most serious public health challenges of the 21st century,” and with good reason.

This is an issue that I care deeply about.

Vegetable soybeans can promise some things. It is an ancient food. Consumed as a whole food for over 3,000 years around the world. In America, not so much.

Cultures that consume whole soy foods as a dietary staple have drastically different health outcomes from people consuming the standard American diet.

Learn from clinical dietician Mandie Smith who explains why whole soy foods have the potential to be a valuable staple in the American diet.

So blessed to be working beside others who are working to support better health outcomes for our children, families, and ourselves.

Thanks to the old and new friends and colleagues as we took some steps forward and planted some seeds this month.

Have a blessed holiday season.

~Karen

P.S. Harvest photos below.