Working for Lundberg Family Farms has brought some of the most remarkable images of rice, wildlife, weather and water. It has also brought a realization of the need to educate and inform young people about the world of rice farming and the life in the fields and waterways that so often goes unseen.
The most enlightening moment came from a consumer who wanted to know why in the world would we ‘let’ the birds into our rice fields; the idea of animal and plant mixed was quite bothersome. In my opinion, surely that is the best indication we are losing touch with our food sources and the importance of protecting them.
It seems the taller we get and the further from the ground we move, our thoughts are becoming preoccupied with living life and not sustaining life.
If you slow down and take time to remember some of the really fun moments, like playing and swimming in a rice check and squeezing adobe mud between your toes, it really puts life into perspective. How can you ever forget catching a crawdad or pollywog? Or, when you first saw the tiny legs growing on the side of a pollywog or feeling minnows nipping at your toes.
It’s time to go back to the soil and waterways to take a closer look! You will be amazed discovering the abundance of life found in the water, mud, and weeds.
That’s what motivated me to write the Paddy Cakes Farming Adventure Series, which is dedicated to educational farm-related stories and facts.I hope this series helps strength the bond our young ones have with their surroundings, enhancing their understanding that there is so much more in the rice fields than grain. Those rice fields are also a valuable part of our ecosystem.
Robin Smith is Sales Coordinator at Lundberg Family Farms and author of Paddy Cakes, Farming Adventures In The Rice Field. You can inquire about or purchase Paddy Cakes, Farming Adventures in the Rice Fields, by emailing Robin Smith, or by mail to PO Box 1188, Biggs, CA 95917.
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