(A Story of Community, Nutrition, and Inclusion for Children of All Ages)
– By Yvette Moore
Lessons about community, inclusion, joy, and of course, healthy eating are at the heart of In the Mix: Veggie Power, a colorful new children’s book by longtime Bed-Stuy resident Dr. Geraldine Baker. The retired educator, administrator, and social justice advocate said she tapped her lifelong passion for nurturing young minds to craft a powerful story to help shape healthy habits and positive attitudes in children.
“It’s a joyful story that teaches young readers about teamwork, healthy eating, and more,” she said. “It’s designed to entertain, educate and encourage children to explore and enjoy vegetables characters, vibrant storytelling and an uplifting message about nature growth, and community.”
The beautifully illustrated book tells the story of an aging farmer who finds friendship, help with his farm, and a new market for his produce just in the nick of time. The story opens with a happy Farmer B becoming sad as he realizes he’s alone. His farm, once bustling with children and visiting neighbors and friends, had become quiet and empty as friends retired and neighbors moved away. The elder farmer is not only lonely, but he is weakening and physically becoming less able to operate his farm. He becomes concerned about how children in the community and beyond would have nutritious vegetables is he was unable to run his farm.
And that’s how, In the Mix: Veggie Power begins introducing to children the some very serious issues like nutrition, food insecurity, caring for the earth, elder isolation, inclusion, and the power of community.
These story themes stem from Dr. Baker’s life experiences in her profession and with her family. For example, she and her twin sister, Dr. Audrey Baker, were born and reared in Brooklyn, New York, but her parents hailed from the South—and that mean regular trips to visit family.
“My father was from North Carolina, and my mother was from Virginia,” she said.
“And in the summers, we went down and to visit relatives. They grew tobacco,” her sister added.
“We got to see how they lived on farms,” she said.
Dr. Baker’s mother also kept a vegetable garden in their backyard in Brooklyn that the sisters helped tend.
Dr. Baker’s education and professional life experiences inform the book’s themes as well. She has a B.A degree in Anthropology/Sociology with a Minor in Linguistics from Richmond College, a Master’s in Education and Administration from Pace University, pursued a doctorate at Nova Southeast University, received an Honorary Doctorate in Human Letters from St. Martin’s, College & Seminary, and attended Harvard for Special Educational Programs. Throughout her professional career as teacher and administrator in the New York City Public School system as well as on the college level, Dr. Baker specialized in the education of special needs students.
She also saw the negative impact of elder isolation while caring and advocating for her now deceased mother when she was in a senior facility.
With these experiences, Dr. Baker was keenly aware of the importance of inclusion of all people in society as she wrote the book, and so, made inclusion and community as a remedy to isolation supporting themes in the story.
Farmer B’s isolation is abated when the community reaches out to him with a surprise birthday party. The community in In the Mix: Veggie Power is intergenerational, multiracial, and includes a differently abled child who is mobile with a wheelchair.
And it’s all hands on deck when the community learns Farmer B also needs help to tend and harvest his vegetables so that affordable food can be available to all. Farmer B teaches the children and adults in the community how to care for the growing vegetables.
“I wanted to give young readers a sense of hope so that they grow, learn teamwork, and to care for the earth,” Dr. Baker said.
An animated Mother Nature and the vegetables also help in the work. The talking vegetables become superheroes not only for their nutritional value, but because the veggies agree to help teach the children about caring for the farms as they work. And the superhero vegetables are the stars in the Veggie Parade to the Plate after the harvest.
Also, an ordained minister and lifelong member of Concord Baptist Church, Dr. Baker included a spiritual component in the book in addition to the community spirit of love and cooperation. The story ends with a time of expressed gratitude. After the parade Mother Nature and the community separately honor Farmer B for his dedicated work, and Mother Nature and Farmer B offer a blessing for the children as the new caregivers for the earth.
“While my formative spiritual foundation was shaped under the historic ministry of Dr. Gardner C. Taylor, I remain deeply grateful for the dedicated leadership of Rev. Dr. Gary 30 years of faithful pastoral care,” Dr. Baker said of her spiritual formation informing the book.
Always an educator, Dr. Baker ends the book with an activity section to show parents or educators how to help children create and care for garden in a yard or in pots.
In the Mix: Veggie Power is a perfect summer vacation read for youngsters and families wanting to explore gardening and nurture intergenerational connections.
Yvette Moore is a frequent contributor to Our Time Press and a young adult author living in Crown Heights.