Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a tomato? I got the inside scoop during a weekend volunteer stint at Heifer International. On most Saturday afternoons, I lead exhibit tours through the learning center at Heifer Village. My afternoons there are typically laid back and air-conditioned.
Heifer hosted a localvore-themed family day recently and I was scheduled to help with the ‘Life of a Tomato’ obstacle course. By the way, localvore basically means buying locally, supporting farmers’ markets and a sustainable environment. The obstacle course had two parts: the ‘happy tomato’ and the ‘sad tomato.’ The latter course was a day in the life of a Florida tomato. The brave souls who agreed to learn more about the fruit started at the farm in Florida where they learned how the tomato was sprayed with pesticides and eventually packaged on plastic packaging trays.
During each step of the obstacle, jumping jacks were used to show the energy (gas, miles) the tomato endured. If the tomato had to travel 143 miles, we would do 14 jumping jacks. On the happy tomato side, the tomato was from a farm in North Little Rock. The little tomato didn’t have to go as far, so as a result, fewer jumping jacks were required. I led about 10 kids through the obstacle courses meaning I completed about 200 jumping jacks. I was one sore tomato the next day!
The obstacle creators hoped the kids would be more tired after completing the sad tomato side – showing that store bought tomatoes travel more miles, use more gas and aren’t as sustainable as a farm-raised, “happy” tomato. The older ones, around 10 or so seemed to grasp the concept. In fact, some of them said they have gardens at their school and knew what composting is. I was impressed! My elementary school didn’t have a garden.
All we had was a classroom hamster and an ant farm. The younger participants just giggled and jumped around. It was a fun day and I worked off my breakfast from Denny’s by the time the event was over. After family day was over, we had to pack four tents, carry about five folding tables and various items back inside. I say “we” because there was about 15 volunteers running around helping out and made the whole process run smoothly.
The rest of the weekend was a lot more relaxing. I was inspired by the localvore idea, so the following weekend I gave Miss Pearl (my car) a break and walked everywhere. I hoofed it to the library and returned three books I didn’t read. Whenever I go into a library, I leave with about five books because I get “caught in the moment.” The same thing happens when I go to Michael’s or Hobby Lobby. I instantly become Domestic Dianne and think I can make, build and glue. I can scrapbook, but that’s as crafty as I get. I don’t sew, unless you count the sweatshirt I made in Home Ec over a decade ago. Maybe when I have kids one day, my crafty gene will kick in.
Until then, I will have to live vicariously through the talented mommy bloggers I follow and my friends who put me to shame by making their own dish soap, pillowcase skirts and have their own herb gardens. There is one thing I can (and try to) do: support Arkansas’ farmers and eat locally. And next time I reach for a tomato from a big supermarket, I will think about all those jumping jacks.