Food: from farmers’ fields to your fork

Threshing day was a special time for young Leora Sipp. The neighbors would gather at her father’s 500-acre Ohio farm to help bring in the wheat harvest every August.

It was a day of hard, dirty work, but it brought Sipp playmates and their mothers always made a big meal for everyone at the end of the day. Best of all, she and the other kids got to drink Pepsi while the men enjoyed a beer after working the fields.

“Threshing day was like Christmas for the kids,” Sipp said.

The Fountain Valley resident has taken those memories and preserved them in her second children’s book about the farm, “Emma and Sara Learn About Harvest Time.”

The book tells the story of a grandmother who explains where wheat comes from while making bread with her granddaughters.

Sipp said she often feels people in the city are oblivious to the source of their food.

“They don’t realize the work the farmers have to do,” she said.

Sipp hopes her books will help young readers bridge that gap. She set the precedent with her first book, “Logan Learns All About Maple Syrup.”

Linda Shaw’s illustrations give the book more than color, and many have educational components. The pictures give a glimpse into farm life and some have informational diagrams as well.

One graphic portrays the ancient tools and techniques of grain harvesting. Another shows examples of the eight types of grain. The book also contains a glossary of terms foreign to urban children.

Sipp was asked back to Ohio to speak to her fellow alumni at Rock Creek School about her book May 24. She said one of the main points she will make is that she believes everyone should write down their experiences.

“Everybody has a story, and you need to write it down whether it’s exciting or not,” Sipp said.

“Emma and Sara Learn About Harvest Time” is published by Eloquent books and available at www.amazon.com. For more information about Sipp and her books, visit www.geocities.com/leorasipp.

HARVEST TERMS

Grain is a hard seed of any cereal plant such as corn rye or oats.

Middling are the particles of coarsely ground grain often mixed with bran and used for animal feed.

Threshing is the process of removing the grain from the stalk and what is left is the straw.

JOSH ADEN may be reached at (714) 966-4609 or at josh.aden@latimes.com.