contributed photos
When I was growing up, I was very blessed to have parents who believed in vegetables. They were an integral part of each meal. Dinner was always a starch, a meat, and two vegetables. Breakfast and lunch included fruit. Even when my sister and I protested, and boy did we protest, vegetables were a part of each meal.
During my childhood, vegetables were cooked, and the focus wasn’t on organic. That was prior to present-day research emphasizing the importance of eating veggies raw, al dente, or steamed, to keep the nutrients available for our bodies. Current research also tells us that organic is best, whenever possible, to eliminate the damaging effects of pesticides. But that information came much later.
My daughter, Zaria, is really my motivation for just about everything. From the time that she was an infant, my husband and I started introducing vegetables to her. We bought a Vitamix, and experimented by blending various fruits and vegetables for her meals. For the most part, everything was fresh and organic.
This is an opportunity that every child, every family, does not have and this bothers me to my core. One child does not deserve good nutrition more than another child. As parents, we are all doing the best we can with what we’ve got; no one loves their child more than the next person loves theirs. Food insecurity is a huge problem in our country. It is about available resources, access to good food and clean water, good information, and quality education. If you have a family that can’t provide a decent breakfast for their child, the child may go to school and have difficulty learning because of hunger. This begins an awful cycle that we need to find ways to change and disrupt.
When Zaria was learning to read, one of the methods we used to help her learn was during our time in the grocery store, especially in the produce department. She would sit in the front of the grocery cart holding my grocery list. As we strolled the aisle, I’d say, “I’m looking for apples.” She would sound it out: A – A – A – Aaaples, and find it on the list with an excited “I found it, mommy!” Then we’d go find it in the produce section.
When she got a little bit older and started to have her own opinions about what was good and what was icky, we would try something new each week. We’d go to the produce section, let her pick out something, and then figure out how to make it – whether cooking it, having it raw, putting it in a salad, juicing it, or making a smoothie out of it. Some things landed well, and some things were still icky. But we were incorporating the nutrients into her body, and my husband and I learned in the process as well.
We have a small garden plot in the backyard. One harvest day when she was seven or eight, we went outside and picked all the vegetables. Her arms were full of vegetables, and I took a picture of her with them all. The idea suddenly came to me: while we don’t all have the resources to purchase organic vegetables at a market, perhaps we can get seeds (which are inexpensive) and grow them ourselves in our yard or a community garden or indoors in pots. And let’s tell children why it is so important to eat them.
I started to write. My process was not linear nor timely. I started writing, and then I’d put it aside for a couple of years. Every so often I would have a thought, or a jingle would come to me and I’d jot it down on a piece of paper (or napkin, or post-it-note), and then months would go by. I carried a folder around with me all the time with my ideas on those scrap pieces of paper. It was years of this. I started writing when Zaria was about 8… I published it when she was 14.
I have two great friends who are my accountability partners. We used to meet at 5 o’clock in the morning and talk about our dreams, desires, things we said we were going to do that we hadn’t yet finished. The book was always one of those things for me. We coached and encouraged each other through the completion of our projects.
The original title was Don’t Start Dinner Without Me – but as I started adding vegetables to it, the title became Don’t Start Dinner Without Us! and the “Us” is the vegetables.
In the book, Zaria is a little girl who’s playing on the swings in her backyard. Her mother comes to the door to call her in for dinner. As Zaria starts to run to the door to go inside for dinner, her mother’s vegetable garden comes to life. The vegetables come running and say, “don’t start dinner without us!” and they start to tell Zaria why. For example, the carrots explain that they have beta carotene and what that does for you… another one talks about fiber and why that matters, and so on.
My core values are family and health. Family would be first for me – as I believe it is for so many. It goes beyond a desire for families to survive; we must thrive. Families can’t thrive if they’re not in good health. And families can’t thrive if they can’t learn and receive a quality education. You can’t go to school, pay attention, and achieve if your body isn’t fed well.
We are quick to compare, point the finger, or criticize when we see one child going to school with a lunch box packed with grapes and hummus and all kinds of delicious goodies, and another child who does not have that. That child’s parent is doing the best they can, operating within what they were taught and with the resources they have available. But it’s a cycle – because then that child has difficulty learning, can’t advance, can’t go on to get a quality education, can’t get a good job. And it all comes back down to the common denominator – what is made available to that family. This is a cycle we must interrupt.
There are other messages in the book that I hope all children of the world receive – about foods from different cultures and being a good citizen. For example, the book talks about the vegetables that are staples in Black families, like collard greens – something that seems to me to be missing all too often in other books. Themes around kindness are woven in as well, like when the vegetables talk about sharing space (on your plate).
I didn’t write the book intending or hoping that it be “big.” I wrote it to be helpful. I launched it on Facebook Live on my birthday with a quick post, then walked away from my computer to have dinner with my husband and daughter. By the time I arrived at the restaurant I had 19 orders. I thought, ‘oh my goodness.’ I had only ordered 50 copies because I knew my family and close friends would support me. (I have an awesome village.) But educators and professionals who work with children told me it delivers a great educational message and I need to spread the word. So, if this is what I can do, if this is how I can help children, then – awesome. I’m all for it!
So, from our family’s dinner table tonight to yours, I will toast to you and your family’s health – with a forkful of salad greens.
To reach Erica directly: egb1913@gmail.com or books@ericagbradley.com
Erica, what an inspiration! Thank you for sharing this important topic. Your journey and accountability with your group proved to be an awesome asset. I cannot wait to read the book.
Thank you so very much, Jolyn!