Kudos to Saint Joe’s

Saint Joseph’s College should be congratulated for doing what it can – which is much apparently – to promote locally grown food.

On Tuesday, the college situated on the shores of Sebago Lake held an “Eat Local Challenge” to highlight the benefits of vegetables and meat harvested in our area. The college is so dedicated to this concept that it has allowed a local gardener to use school property, located across the street from the Whites Bridge Road campus, to grow a variety of vegetables.

On one level, the “Eat Local Challenge” reminds students to eat healthy. Students eat three times a day. Heck, we all eat three times a day. That’s either three times to make wise decisions or cut corners. A healthy existence starts with a well-balanced diet, something even college students need to be reminded of.

On a deeper level, the day is a reminder to fast-paced college students, accustomed to snacking on fast food, that they should slow down and get connected to real life. Saint Joseph’s is wise to remind students, through this local foods celebration, that what they eat takes hard work to prepare, not only from kitchen staff and chefs but the farmers who provide it in the first place. The Challenge helps students to appreciate what they have.

In a world that is getting further and further from our agrarian roots, it’s nice to see an organization trying to keep alive the tradition of “real food.” It’s almost necessary to see where food comes from, especially meat and products that come from animals. It grounds us as human beings. It helps put our lives in perspective. The Challenge, therefore, helps all of us realize how growing our own food, or at least eating food harvested locally, can both improve our health and help us realize we are part of nature, not conquerors of it.

Troubled teens, troubled world

It’s a dangerous world out there, and this week a few Windham high schoolers and middle schoolers got a small taste of it.

First off, the Windham Middle School cross country team had their illusions of friendly competition shattered when fishing line was strung up at neck level across the race course.

The kids were unharmed by the trip-line only because the coach ran through it before the race began. The coach was struck in the chest and a group of loitering students pretty much sealed their fate with their subsequent snickering.

Their practical joke should not be tolerated. Here’s hoping school officials see the wisdom in either suspending the youth or turning them over to the police for a sobering life lesson.

The other incident this week involved a Portland teen who pulled a knife on a Windham kid at Friday night’s football game. The knife was illegal and luckily School Resource Officer Jeff Smith was on the spot and witnessed the developing skirmish. No one was hurt, the boy was arrested, and everyone lived to tell the tale.

Unfortunately, there’s really nothing school officials can do to prevent these types of events for our young people. It’s ironic that violence escalates despite all the schools’ attempts at preaching tolerance and mutual respect. But it’s silly to blame teachers or administrators. Sometimes it’s even silly to blame parents. To be sure, the best parent can have the worst offspring. Simply and sadly, it’s a brutal world out there and Windham kids saw a small piece of it this week. And that acts as a sobering reminder to all of us.

-John Balentine, editor