Animal, Vegetable Miracle Thoughts: Bacteria and Dirt

Bacteria. Yuck, right? Make you sick, right? Except for the good ones. Strains that can be helpful. But have you ever noticed? We don't call them that. Bacteria, I mean. We call them cultures, or probiotics, or whatever else, just not bacteria. Somehow I don't think Activia would sell quite as much if they used "Good ole bacteria in every bite" as their slogan. And what about those commercials showing all the bacteria in your mouth. Better get yourself some good toothpaste to kill them off.

Dirt. Yuck. Nobody wants that in their house. Get it out. Out! And certainly don't get it on your clothes or put your hands in it. What? Food comes out of that? Certainly we can't eat that. It's DIRTY! Better buy your food from the grocery store where they sell clean food.

:) Just saying, we have some conceptions in our culture that we are going to have to change if we are going to eat locally and healthfully. If we are going to get a new generation of youth interested in gardening and where their foods comes from, we are going to have to get over the yuckiness of digging in the dirt. Especially if their parents aren't introducing them to those experiences at home. We are going to have to recognize the interconnectedness and balance of each organism in our environment, even bacteria and dirt.