Last week, the second graders learned that California is a major producer of fruits and vegetables. This week, we learned that a majority of California’s farmworkers are Mexican, men, undocumented, and range in age from teenagers to people in their 60s. We also learned that there are an estimated 400,000 children who work in American fields. In the classroom, we read the book Before We Eat: From Farm to Table and discussed all the many people who contribute to our food system and allow us to eat. They are essential workers and heroes, but most of them aren’t named in our history books or raised in our daily consciousness.
In the classroom, we celebrated the close relationship between Californian and Mexican food cultures and made guacamole with Haas and Bacon (named for their first cultivator, not their flavor!) avocados. There was great teamwork as students mashed avocado, snipped onions, squeezed limes, and minced cilantro. We enjoyed the guacamole with local tortilla chips from Sabor Mexicano.
At the end of class, each student planted a fava bean into a small cup of soil. Over the next few weeks, the second graders will watch their fava starts emerge indoors and we will then transfer the baby plants to the planters by the lunch picnic tables and hope to be able to harvest fresh fava beans together before school gets out in the spring!
