I have an idea that’s been in my mind for a very long time – since I was a teenager in fact. It keeps coming back to me and so now I want to put it out there – hoping to begin to sow the seeds that I’m certain would help to create a better world – even in a small way.
When I was a child and a teenager we used to visit my aunts and uncles and cousins in Tauranga (NZ) usually at least a couple of times a year (we lived there also until I was 5 years old). I loved going to Tauranga. It seemed that the sun was always shining, there was always somewhere to swim and there was always fruit on the trees. Every visit my brothers, my sister and I used to gorge ourselves on mandarins, plums, tamarillos, feijoas, passionfruit, grapefruit and more straight off the trees.
Across the road from my aunts house on Ngatai Road, was a nectarine tree. It was just growing on the side of the road all by itself. No one looked after it, or watered it or pruned it and yet it grew beautiful nectarines one year when I visited as a teenager. I remember thinking how great it would be if there were fruit trees on the side of the road everywhere for people to help themselves to. That thought has stuck in my mind ever since.
I’ve thought about this many times over the years, particularly when in areas where things grow easily. When we were in North Queensland 20 years ago, I remember thinking that local bodies could have tropical fruit trees growing instead of ornamentals in parks and on nature strips as everything grows so well and so easily up there. There could be a huge variety of fruit trees, bearing fruit all year round for families and for children in particular, to help themselves to whenever they wanted.
The same thought occured when we were living back in NZ in Te Aroha. We had fruit trees growing in our own back yard and they grew so easily and quickly without too much tending at all. Along the back of the football field in Te Aroha is a massive long row of feijoa trees (pineapple guava is the name known by here in Australia). These grow all on their own and bear huge amounts of fruit every single year and it’s available to those who’ll take the time and a bag, to go and pick them as we we did every year that we lived there. I made feijoa jam and we ate huge quantities of organic, fresh feijoas each year for the weeks that they were in season. We weren’t the only ones tho – children of all ages also visited before school, after school and in the weekends to also got to eat fresh organic fruit straight off the tree as it should be. To be able to access fresh, organic fruit straight off the tree is truly a blessing.
Even in dry old Nanango here in Queensland, our kids used to raid mulberry trees every year that overhung someone’s fence to gorge themselves on fresh mulberries and come home with hands, face and clothing stained purple.
My point is that no matter what area, there is almost always some sort of fruit and nut trees that will grow readily once established and bear fruit. Today, we have families who can’t afford to buy much in the way of fruit or just choose not to. Their children have no say in the matter. We have children living on diets of Cocoa Pops, MacDonalds, soft drinks and other foods with little or no nutrition. We have children with behavioral problems. Children unable to focus on anything for any length of time and it’s generally due to a lack of nutrition.
Children are always attracted to fresh fruit. Fruit straight off the tree that has taste because it’s packed full of enzymes and nutrition just as it should be. If we had fruit available on trees on the sidewalk and in the parks then kids that have had their bowl of cocoa pops or fruit loops in the morning, could also have some fruit on their way to school and at least they’d be getting something worthwhile into their bodies to help their brains work at school.
Families could pick whatever was in season and take it home and they’d have good, healthy nutritious food at their fingertips that hasn’t cost them a cent.
This could be reality! It wouldn’t take earnings away from our commercial growers – people would still buy from supermarkets and stores, but for those who wanted it, it would also be available at least some of the time for free. I know that local government bodies will argue about fruit fly and rotting fruit etc, but I doubt that there would be much and is it so much of a problem to pick it up? They’re gardening, cleaning and rubbish collecting anyway, right?
Instead of spending money and water and time on only ornamental trees, grow food! This is my idea, and if you’re reading it and agree, feel free to get in touch with me. I’d be keen to hear from anyone who’d like to work on achieving this in their area. My dream is for it to become commonplace around the world – free fruit for families – it would be a little step closer to getting back to the garden of eden that we’re supposed to live in.
Comments