The students did that.
They were bright and funny and completely unbothered by a room full of adults watching them. The crowd was engaged, we got a few real
laughs in, and somewhere in the middle of it I realized I was the one taking notes.
A student from Dennis-Yarmouth talked about changing how her lunchroom handles composting so the scraps feed their student-run garden. A Mashpee student talked about the actual work that goes into their garden, the hours of it. A student from Falmouth High talked about nitrogen mitigation in the water and the soil, which is not a small thing to understand, let alone stand up and explain to a room.
But the part that stuck with me was smaller than any of that.
One of them said they can’t bring themselves to waste a tomato they grew with their own hands. A tomato from the store is easy to toss. A tomato you planted and watered and watched grow is a different thing entirely. You know what it cost.
I’ve been thinking about food systems and waste on the Cape for years now. I’ve sat through the meetings, read the grant language, talked about it from every angle. And here was a high schooler explaining the whole thing in one sentence about a tomato.
That’s the part adults tend to forget. The value was never really the tomato. It was the growing.
That was last month. I carried it around with me for weeks.
Then yesterday I was at the MassHire Cape & Islands Workforce Board annual meeting and awards. I was sitting there, they called a name, and there she was. The same student from the panel, walking up to receive a scholarship for all the work she’s been putting in.
I got a little misty, honestly.
There’s a particular feeling that comes from being in a room when the future steps up and into the conversation. Not waiting to be invited. Just stepping in, with composting plans and nitrogen data and a refusal to waste what they grew, and saying out loud how we could all be doing a little better.
We spend a lot of time talking about preparing young people for the world they’re inheriting. This week reminded me that some of them are already ahead of us.
I’m just glad I had a seat at the table to watch.
— Stephanie 🍋