In under 200 pages, Thornton Wilder painted the early 1900’s, fictitious town of Grover’s Corners. The small town, built on the unremarkable patterns of life that each resident follows, tries to resist the inevitable changes that come with time. When I first read Our Town, I was enthralled with the simplicity of life and the satisfaction with which its inhabitants pursued their dreams and purposes. I have often dreamed of returning to a time, a town, where the town doctor makes house calls, the cow, from which your milk comes, visits your kitchen window, and every family sits down for a meal cooked by many. Today, I had the experience of visiting Katchkie Farm in Kinderhook, NY and I was reminded once again of the importance of returning to a simpler more inter-connected life with both each other and nature.

This week, the Albany Medical School Class of 2020 completed its first days of class, and celebrated, proudly and enthusiastically, with a service learning opportunity. Our group chose to visit the Sylvia Center at Katchkie Farm. The group of about 30 students, families, and faculty, each passionate about food, healthy, cooking, and of course eating, traipsed through gardens, farmland, even a chicken coop with an undeniable lightness and joy. Medical Students, ranging from 21 to 30 were returned to their childhoods as they picked fresh onions from the ground, petted sheep, taste-tested every color tomato, and learned what a cucamelon was. After picking our own vegetables, we helped in an outdoor kitchen; washing newly plucked onions, spiralizing zucchini, and chopping vegetables. Finally, the group settled down to eat a meal together, unequivocally one of the freshest meals any of us has had recently, if not ever.

The process of choosing our vegetables, trying them, washing and cooking them, and then finally eating together is an experience not many people have, even fewer since the time of Grover’s Corners. Seeing a group of all ages, help tend to the earth and the earth nourish us in turn, is the simplicity and reciprocity that I have dreamed of since Our Town. The youthfulness and elation that crept across each face when they first bit into a blush tomato, or while petting the sheep emphasizes the necessity of each of us to interact with our environment and better understand our earth.

It is so incredibly easy to walk through the aisles of the grocery store, absent-mindedly choosing food that may fill our stomachs, but does little else. Taking the time, like our gleeful group did today, to interact with and share your food, helps feed not only your body but I truly believe it nourished our souls. The often repeated adage, you can only give from your stores after refilling and replenishing your own; was emphatically practiced today.  My hope is that everyone gets a similar opportunity on any scale. Whether it is practicing mindful cooking, visiting a local farmers market, growing your own spices and vegetables, or cooking meals together; there is a way to understand our earth and engage with our bodies in the most organic way possible.

Thornton Wilder said, “Oh, Earth, you are too wonderful for anybody to realize you”. The people of Grover’s Corners may have captured glimpses of Earth’s wonder; today we were similarly blessed, and with a conscious and concerted effort by all of us, so can everyone else.

Recipes from the Sylvia Center to come, and many more discussions on the natural and sustainability of living farm to table! Check them out here!