A carrot can start a revolution

We shot this picture of Beatrice after she picked a fresh carrot from her soil. Before her partnership with Gardens for Health through her local health center, Beatrice’s son Freddie, pictured on her left, was malnourished, both underweight and underheight for his age, and Beatrice did not have any home garden. With Gardens for Health’s package of support, consisting of seeds, technical visits with an agronomist, weekly cooking demonstrations and education sessions to supplement the short-term food aid supplied by the health center, Freddy has already gained 3 kilos in three months. Beatrice is now growing food for her family and she is growing food to sell. And she’s pretty proud.

Paul Cezanne once said, “The day is coming when a carrot, freshly observed, will start a revolution.” While Cezanne was talking about the need for a revolution in art, we are now in need of fresh observation, and indeed revolution, in our food and health systems. A carrot may be a small vegetable from Beatrice’s garden, but it symbolizes simply and powerfully the small revolution that Beatrice is making.

With so much gratitude to Sarah, George, Henry for their generous support!