Natural Agriculture and the Education of Our Next Generation
by Junzo Uyeno
It was towards the end of 1992 when Eugene Sensei told me he intended to begin Natural Agriculture at the Hollywood Center. Eight years have passed since I started the project in January 1993. I've also been doing Natural Agriculture at the Center for Regenerative Studies, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, since April 1997.
We started C.S.A. (Community Supported Agriculture) at the Hollywood Center in 1999. Seventeen households, including two non-member households, took part in C.S.A. Last year this number increased to twenty. We were able to deliver vegetables and fruits 36 times in the year 2000, and were able to supply mixed lettuce almost all year round. It was quite popular because the lettuce was much tastier than that which is commercially available, and it is convenient for salad. I was also happy to be able to deliver oranges and Satsuma mandarins. I hope a lot of people can have good vegetables through C.S.A. from now on.
Meishusama told us that the essence of health is to adjust ourselves to Nature, and to respect Nature. We can be grateful for Nature and improve our health by eating Natural Agriculture vegetables in season, instead of out-of- season vegetables we might want but which are grown by means of forced, chemically-stimulated methods. One of the non-members taking part in our Hollywood C.S.A. underwent cancer surgery, and progress after the operation was not good. After he began to receive Jyorei and eat Natural Agriculture vegetables, his health condition has become stable. At the end of 2000, the couple took the Shumei introductory course at the Pasadena Center from Eugene Sensei. Thank you, Meishusarna.
Last year at the end of November, I visited the Kyushyu area of Japan with Eugene Sensei to see how they apply Natural Agriculture and related methods to educating the next generation. We visited a number of places, among them Mr. Kingo Maeda's pear garden in Saga, Japan. He has been growing pears for thirty years, and now each year he offers the garden for a children's camp. In Kokura, we met members of the Minori Club who are devoted to using only vegetables in season grown by Natural Agriculture. Sometimes only one vegetable, such as daikon, is in season. This used to be a problem, but now the members enjoy exchanging recipes and having spirited discussions on how to prepare daikon in various enticing ways.
At Takemoto Farm, located approximately 30 minutes' drive from Oita city, Mr. Takernoto and his wife practice a self-sufficient lifestyle. Besides produce, they provide themselves with nearly everything you might find in the supermarket: mayonnaise, condiments, pickles, miso, soy sauce - even sake! Their success gave rise to the Yuzuriha No Kai movement to spread self-sufficiency and the use of traditional food culture. One of many impressed by visiting the Takemoto Farm is Mr. Fukami of the northern Oita prefecture, who has now been practicing Natural Agriculture since 1992. His results have changed the minds of neighborhood farmers who used to look at him coldly. Members of the Yuzuriha club in Oita focus on homemade recipes, using the precious food culture and sense of Nature they received from their ancestors. I am really grateful to have met all of these people who inspired me to move ahead with my own vision to use the Hollywood Center to educate the next generation in Natural Agriculture.
Since the beginning, I have been wanting children to take part in Natural Agriculture and touch the soil and feel Nature. It will be wonderful if they can use positive Natural Agriculture experiences to encourage themselves in the future, when they undergo purification or don't know what to do, by remembering when they touched the soil. I have harvested sweet potatoes several times with children, but except for that I've had no chance to do Natural Agriculture with them. It looks as though they like to go to the garden when they come to the Hollywood Center. I believe they feel Nature.
Beginning this February, led by Alan Sensei, we are scheduled to have a Natural Agriculture camp at the Hollywood Center to learn and experience Meishusama's teaching that adjusting to Nature and respecting Nature by touching the soil is a vital part of education for the next generation. This is a wonderful opportunity for children to learn about Nature, and they should respond quickly. It would be nice to have cooking classes using vegetables in season in order to show everyone how to cook them in various ways. The key to getting people on a really good diet is getting them to touch the soil that produces what they eat. I would like a lot of people to take part in planting or harvesting, and feel the spirit of the vegetables. I am planning to sow the seeds of summer vegetables during the February camp.
Let's learn Meishusama!s teaching together with the children at the Hollywood Center!
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