From the best-selling author of One Hen comes the inspiring story of one struggling farming family in Honduras and their journey to growing enough food to meet their needs. Based on the real story of farm transformation underway in Honduras and many other countries, this book offers children ways they can be part of the movement to grow "good gardens" and foster food security.

Eleven-year-old Mar a Luz and her family live on a small farm. This year their crop is poor, and they may not have enough to eat or to sell for other essentials, such as health care, school uniforms and books.

When Mar a's father must leave home to find work, she is left in charge of their garden. Then a new teacher comes to Mar a's school and introduces her to sustainable farming practices that yield good crops. As Mar a begins to use the same methods at home, she too sees improvements, which allow her family to edge their way out of the grip of the greedy ?coyotes? --- the middlemen who make profits on the backs of poor farmers. Little by little, the farms --- and the hopes --- of Mar a and her neighbors are transformed as good gardens begin to grow.

 

There are 32 pages in this book. This book was published 2010 by Kids Can Press .

Katie Smith Milway, a native of Vancouver, B. C. , has coordinated community development programs in Africa and Latin America for Food for the Hungry; consulted on village banking in Senegal with World Vision and was a delegate to the 1992 Earth Summit. She has written books and articles on sustainable development and is currently a partner at nonprofit consultancy The Bridgespan Group, based in Boston, Massachusetts.