Transcript

00:00:18 Rick

Welcome back, everybody for second part of our interview with the Banana Slug String Band, from Santa Cruz, California, coming to a neighborhood near you in the future to play and teach kids about where the food comes from and the environment through music. Let's get into it and thanks for listening.

00:00:47 Rick

So have you had the 50 year old gentleman come up to you and say 40 years ago I was 10 years old and I did this now, because of what you do?

00:00:57 Larry Graf

All of the time.

00:00:58 Doug Greenfield

All the time, really all the time.

00:00:59 Rick

Yeah. That's why you think that's the reason why you see something like that and just get you right there.

00:01:11 Doug Greenfield

It certainly hits me, gives me hope. And Larry's right, but we steer from the political, that's not our thing. And people have come to us, you know, at different points, you know, all kinds of things telling us, you know, the message has to be refined on some level, for all kinds of religious, all kinds of religions, you know, and we're like all we want to do is get families, communities, children, teachers to love the earth, let's just love the earth. Why wouldn't we want to love the earth when we talk about dirt man. The thing I think of is like, now that we know that dirt made our lunch OK, that soil down there is making our food, what sense does it make to put litter or something on top of a thing that makes your food. And you could see kids just are going “yuck.” Right. Why would I want to hurt the earth?

00:02:05 Rick

Right.

00:02:07 Doug Greenfield

So it's big.

00:02:10 Rick

What's another song that resonates with you with that same thing? What's a great song over the years or, a new… Anything. Your choice.

00:02:19 Larry Graf

I think of two songs off Pollinator Nation.

00:02:22 Rick

OK.

00:02:22 Larry Graf

One is Go Organic, and one is called Habitat Hero. OK and really talks about what kids can do to play in a garden and how to plant a garden. It's safe for pollinators, yeah. Local. It'll be habitat hero. How can we protect habitats?

00:02:39 Rick

We just had our pollinator episode 2 episodes ago, just did last month. We have a guy up the road in Oregon State. That's one of the foremost bee experts in the world and I was able to tour his lab, and he had, like, 200,000 specimens of bees in Oregon cataloged and…

00:03:01 Doug Greenfield

200,000 different species?

00:03:02 Rick

Yeah. So it's well, I think that he told me he in the episode how many species were in Oregon and we didn't get to how many there were in the United States. I should ask him. But he did say, like, this is kind of down the weeds a little bit, but there would be a little hill in Eastern Oregon where there's one bee that lives there, nowhere else in the world because there's one flower that only grows on that hill. And you talk about impact of ecosystems, if there that flower in that hill would go away, then it causes this chain reaction, the bees go away, and then ergo, all the other ones. But he said he said there are hundreds of little “1 hill bees” in Oregon that are like that. You know, I thought there was just one, he said were everywhere.

00:03:50 Larry Graf

And that's why you should also play the song Pollinator Nation.

00:03:53 Rick

OK. Yeah.

00:03:53 Larry Graf

Some really cool track. Another popular song by band is Water Cycle Boogie. OK, which explains the water cycle that's been very successful live selling for us with performance 2nd and most besides Dirt Made My Lunch.

00:04:11 Rick

Yeah. And you're at the at the Oregon Country fair right now and that's not really a kid there are. There are children there, right? Families there, but is there more of an adult venue there?

00:04:29 Larry Graf

There's a lot of kids at Oregon the Oregon Faire. A family event. There's 15,000 people living at the Oregon Country Faire now. You know where they will be.

00:04:33 Rick

I haven't been. Yeah.

00:04:39 Larry Graf

Families, multi generations from baby to the old hippies, you know, 75 years old. Doug and I lead a morning jam in some of our booths. And we call ourselves the Fruit Salad Band. And we just jam all kinds of cool songs.

00:05:04 Rick

Which is a subset of the banana slugs?

00:05:08 Larry Graf

Yeah, that's true.

00:05:09 Doug Greenfield

And some great musicians, great musicians come. It's the greatest, most punctual volunteer band I've ever known. They show up. Men will come over, we say which things are going on late at night at that fair. So. So they show up at 9:00. They're… I mean, they're knocking at my door. Just today, like “we'll be there Friday.” So it's really great. There's also I sometimes I play like a renegade set for where I camp over and it's Little Miss Piggy for the otters because there's a lot of kids here this year, so I'll probably play them a little show, but. Mostly they were contrary. It's about, I mean, a lot of kids will describe themselves as fair kids. Raised at the fair and that, as that has serious meaning. I mean these kids have this beautiful outlook and very.. It's a very creative place for kids and a lot of magic and art and infusion. It's one of my five favorite cultural experiences we have on the planet.

00:06:06 Rick

Oh cool.

00:06:07 Doug Greenfield

The fair is really something. It's really beautiful.

00:06:09 Larry Graf

And the adults are kids like, I’m a fair kid.

00:06:15 Rick

Well, I always say I'm a 14 year old with you know, 50 years experience or whatever so.

00:06:19 Doug Greenfield

Perfect. You wear it well. You wear it well.

00:06:21 Rick

Yeah, I have a coworker that has a food booth up there and does pancakes and Sarah is her name, but she's been there forever, you know, and does that. Hi Sarah, if you're listening!

00:06:33 Larry Graf

Some garden related stories, that of how we've interacted with schools as in our travels. Please and… I thought of but one I thought of in Hawaii, there's this woman that travels around teaching kids how to make worm composting, and so she does her business. She goes around schools in Hawaii. Teaches about worm composting. So that was interesting.

00:07:04 Rick

Red wigglers or?.. It's a thing. Yeah.

00:07:08 Doug Greenfield

And why it's crucial actually, like they've they've they have a whole cultural misalignment of not growing food. They stopped growing food and got into fast food and got steered away from it and they have the climate to grow 24/7 year round. I mean they could be growing and growing, and so soils.. so the worms are very important. Yeah, from an ancestral point I share focus that gardening is crucial and very spiritual experience. And so Hawaii, I feel like it's pretty huge, a huge endeavor. They're really trying to turn that around to get people to grow in their homes, in their schools, in the community gardens and and to get people back to it. And it's really good. It's really positive.

00:07:59 Larry Graf

We know, in Hawaii, Aioli Valley.. multi generational. Me and brothers living, farming is a beautiful thing in Aioli. We play that school, the Aoli Elementary, and they have a gardening thing because of Charlie and Paul, right, Charlie..? To record something about corn harvesting.

00:08:25 Doug Greenfield

A corn celebration. Yeah. And then sing our songs.

00:08:29 Rick

Yeah, well, that's a nice. We had a delegation of Hawaiians come through the Department of Ed. Usually what happens is I get a group of people from another country and they want to know what farm to school's about. They want to see a tour of a school garden, and so I I took them one and they said.. And these Hawaiian guys and they're ag people, but they were saying you keep saying southern exposure. What's this? I'm like. Yeah. Well, you see what it was like January I go it's noon right now. I pointed to where the sun was. And it's like we we point everything there because we don't have very much sunshine in the northern hemisphere. Those guys don't have that. So that was never an issue, just sun everywhere. But but it's it's good lesson to learn.

00:09:13 Doug Greenfield

Right, I understand.

00:09:16 Rick

I’ve done a lot of work with some of my friends in in Nevada and Las Vegas. We just had a couple episodes. And I was interviewing the people down there with green, our planet, and they were.. years ago they didn't have any school gardens, and now there's one in every every school in in Las Vegas. I mean I I've spoke down there before and I'm like my message was you guys have no business doing this! It's like such an inhospitable place to do this.

00:09:48 Doug Greenfield

I know.

00:09:49 Rick

But it was such an inhospitable place and they make it happening, which was… They make it work, but like you look outside the door here, it's so green everything grows. You could leave for a week and come back and your garden is still there. They leave for a day and their garden is toast. You know that they have to shade it and make their own dirt because it's there's you put the shovel on the ground and it goes “clank,” so it takes a hearty person to and they do it. That's the that was good news is like...

00:10:19 Doug Greenfield

It can be done. I mean it can be done. Yeah, it's a world thing, isn't it? A lot of my whole family's been into this. My wife worked for Life Lab and went all around the country putting gardens in the schools and helped to train and do that. And my daughter just finished working for Life Lab. Worked for them for years and years. Just did a six year old curriculum program which it was all focused gardens into the schools gardens in the community and I think, you know, there's going to be a well. California had legislation which was passed that said, every school is mandated to have a garden every one.

00:10:54 Rick

That's my dream. Everyone in the country.

00:10:56 Doug Greenfield

Now, I don't think it followed through. But it was passed through legislation. So you know that kind of will is good thing.

00:11:09 Rick

Yeah, you need money. But, I mean, there's such a thing as just have a a windowsill garden. Start, do something, do something and teach the kiddos and stuff.

00:11:15 Doug Greenfield

Yeah, you're right.

00:11:20 Larry Graf

Just more connection. So have connection to the Earth. And they enjoy it, of course. 'cause. They love the outdoors, being inside a classroom all day, looking at can bore some kids, but if you get them fingers in the compost pile they can make they can make some compost cake.

00:11:36 Rick

That's right, yeah. Well, and then there's a beneficial bacteria. They found out the kids that get it in there and get their hands dirty. They've actually found that discipline problems go down, you know, graduation rates and attendance rates go up and things like that, and and part of that gardening is so crucial. Like you could if you could teach whatever you can inside, just bring it outside and teach out in the environment and and do that, you know you teach your social studies, your art, your physical education. You can read in the garden, you know, so yeah.

00:12:12 Doug Greenfield

Yeah, and it's true. I mean, I've heard psychologists and psychiatrists tell me about that. Is that there's a endorphin that is released when you put your hands and feet in the soil that creates.. similar to like a euphoric at ease, peaceful connective place, you know. And I personally could tell you that I believe in that I like down on that earth. I do.

00:12:40 Rick

Yeah. Where you headed next? your next gigs?

00:12:44 Larry Graf

Well, we just worked really hard in June, like played dozens of schools. Yeah. So this is kind of like a breakdown to go to music festivals and go to rivers and swim and hike and travel, but I think our next slide gig is we're playing a library in Gilroy, CA at the end of July.

00:13:04 Rick

Is that the garlic fest?

00:13:06 Larry Graf

No, it's just like the library, but we have a lot of time off this summer and then we join in the fall. We have the fall, we're…

00:13:14 Rick

For your 40 year.

00:13:17 Larry Graf

A bunch of schools. We got these grants to play. All these watershed shows. Maybe we're going to Albuquerque to play Popejoy Hall, which is a big auditorium. Bus kids in and we do a couple concerts for them.

00:13:30 Rick

Well, whenever you come back up to the Pacific Northwest, you're gonna have to let me know. Especially, I'd love to see all four of you guys in action.

00:13:35 Doug Greenfield

Sure, sure.

00:13:40 Larry Graf

You must be a Duck?

00:13:50 Rick

It's even worse than.

00:13:51 Rick

I'm actually a Husky fan, so I grew up in in the Seattle area.

00:13:58 Doug Greenfield

We don't hold that against you.

00:14:00 Doug Greenfield

00:14:00 Rick

So you are USC or UCLA or no what?

00:14:04 Larry Graf

It's funny.

00:14:06 Rick

Oh, you guys are Stanford, right? Yeah. Cal?

00:14:08 Larry Graf

Were for the UCSC Banana Slugs!

00:14:11 Rick

OK.

00:14:12 Larry Graf

But we have two songs, one for University of Oregon and one for Oregon State University. Yeah, the University of Oregon is our song. That's up Ducks. The other Oregon State University is Proud to be a Beaver.

00:14:27 Rick

All right, I will check those out.

00:14:29 Doug Greenfield

Also there's a beautiful, absolute, beautiful song. It's called beauty and it's on the Lullaby album, isn't it?

00:14:40 Larry Graf

Wings of slumber.

00:14:42 Doug Greenfield

The Yeah, the singer of this is a brilliant and he's saying in his early life with Perry Como, he's actually in the midst of passing, but he used all of our vocals and lots of children's vocals, and he's Jonathan. Arthur is his name and he sings the lead on this. That is absolutely gives you why you're doing well. Gives you why you do what you do. And I do. Gives you chills. Because that's what we're after to translate the beauty of this planet into the hearts and minds of all people so that they're willing to go to bat for it and not allow any compromise in that.

00:15:16 Larry Graf

It’s got bagpipes!

00:15:21 Doug Greenfield

It does.

00:15:22 Rick

I like my bagpipes. Yeah, well, A/C DC had that in their songs.

00:15:26 Doug Greenfield

Sure.

00:15:27 Larry Graf

So it's a lot like that, yeah.

00:15:29 Rick

I like that. Oh, that's that's great.

00:15:33 Doug Greenfield

Oh yeah, we’ve been, you know recording, we've done it for 30 or 40 years, and you don't normally go back and listen to them that often. Don't know why really, but we when we were making our albums, we'd spend almost two years on every single one of them. And I mean show is one thing but also, we really had in our minds that adults that are going to be listening to this. We had to make it so it's really rich for them. Kind of like the Sesame Street idea. Like, have it be multi leveled like there be conceptual levels for the kids, conceptual levels for the adults, musical levels for the kids, musical level for the adults, such that it be interesting. After 25 times, you know they wouldn't want to come and kill us and so, some of the recordings are unbelievable. I haven't listened in a couple decades, you know, and it's really very impressive.

00:16:22 Rick

Yeah, real good to revisit.

00:16:25 Doug Greenfield

Oh my gosh.

00:16:26 Rick

A lot of lot of groups will go hey, we're going to play the blue album now, or we'll go back and play our first one. You know, so that's that's always fun.

00:16:33 Larry Graf

Hey, that's a good idea for the sorting thing.

00:16:35 Rick

Yeah. Are you guys mostly do for your gigs acoustic because probably?

00:16:46 Larry Graf

No, we're plugged in, but we're using well some acoustic instruments and some electric instruments and drums sometimes did. So we're not strictly acoustic work because we're playing big festivals, a big auditoriums at the Amplify.

00:16:48 Rick

You are. OK. Yes, but I haven't seen like I've seen a lot of like you do. Like what? Like. Some different like dulcimers and things like that and you know, yeah, all all kinds.

00:17:08 Larry Graf

Yes, there's there's all kinds of stuff. Also electric.

00:17:12 Larry Graf

One guy, mark, electric guitar? A Fender Strat, you know? Yeah.

00:17:17 Rick

And you have a bass I just saw outside so.

00:17:19 Doug Greenfield

Yeah. Yeah, acoustic bass guitar. But they also play with electric guitars like what we do is we try to play and it's genre of music that will attract is the 2 to 12 year old kids and adults. So we've been all over the map. I mean, we've had rap songs and funk tunes and Blues tunes and and then literally we're trying to do that. Trying to be as eclectic as possible.

00:17:43 Rick

OK, now you need like the Tower of Power horns and all that.

00:17:46 Doug Greenfield

Yeah, we've had killer Hornets. Killer Horns. Oh, yeah.

00:17:51 Rick

Yeah, I don't need to tell you guys how to do your thing.

00:17:53 Doug Greenfield

No, no. But I like what how you leading us, true.

00:17:57 Larry Graf

We've had great horns, fiddles, mandolins, bagpipes, harps. Yeah, and incredible cello playing records.

00:18:06 Rick

Sounds like it keeps you guys fresh and stuff.

00:18:08 Larry Graf

This is still exciting. It's fun. It's really fun life.

00:18:13 Doug Greenfield

What's Barry's last name? Barry Phillips. That's it.

00:18:16 Larry Graf

Your childhood famous Cello played with George Harrison. George Harrison and Ravi Shankar.

00:18:22 Doug Greenfield

And he played on our… He literally composed it. Really. Jellyfish? The jellyfish ball. Plug that in. It is such an exquisite composition.

00:18:32 Larry Graf

Yeah. Yeah. We have a couple ocean records as we do education about gardening, ocean education, watersheds, animals, and habitats for all over the environmental map, make sure helping us celebrate our 40th anniversary!

00:18:50 Rick

Congratulations on that. And here's to 40 more.

00:18:53 Doug Greenfield

There are 40 more.

00:18:56 Rick

Well, I mean, geez, the stones are there right now, probably like going like 80.

00:18:59 Larry Graf

Yeah, we saw him this year.

00:19:03 Doug Greenfield

Yeah. They look good. Mick.. looks really good.

00:19:08 Rick

I saw them when I was a senior in high school in the Kingdome. Yeah. Yeah. And I thought they were done then, but no.

00:19:14 Doug Greenfield

Oh, I know what you mean.

00:19:20 Larry Graf

We're all still alive. Slugs still survive.

00:19:22 Rick

Yeah. OK.

00:19:24 Rick

Thank you.

00:19:27 Michelle

We'd like to thank you all so much for listening today.

00:19:30 Rick

Thanks for listening! farm to school, was written, directed and produced by Rick Sherman and Michelle Markesteyn with production support from Leanne Lockner of Oregon State University, and was made possible by a grant of the United States Department of Agriculture.

00:19:46 Michelle

The content and ideas on the Farmto School podcast does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Oregon State University, Oregon Department of Education, or the United States department of Agriculture.

00:20:02 Rick

Do you want to learn more about farm to school? Check out more episodes, show notes, contact information and much more by searching Farm to School podcast, OSU, and you'll find us.

00:20:14 Michelle

Yeah, please, we'd love to hear from you. Thanks everyone again for listening.

00:20:19 Rick

Also, all music is provided by the Banana Slug String Band. Thank you guys very much.

In our journey to explore the different methods of educating kids about their food and the environment, we bring you a new way we haven't explored yet on this program: Educating kids through music! Join us as we talk to members of the Banana Slug String Band, a band that's celebrating their 40th Anniversary at the time of this posting and their journey through the years.

This is part one of a two-part episode. Part two will be available later this month.

Special thanks to the Banana Slug String Band for giving us permission to air their music. Songs featured in this episode:

  1. Dirt Made My Lunch–Singing in the Garden
  2. Roots, Stems, Leaves–Singing in the Garden
  3. Habitat Hero–Pollinator Nation
  4. Go Organic–Pollinator Nation
  5. Pollinator Nation–Pollinator Nation

All songs written by Steve Van Zandt and Banana Slug String Band


The Farm to School Podcast is produced by Rick Sherman, Farm to School Analyst at the Oregon Department of Education and Michelle Markesteyn, Farm to School Specialist at Oregon State University Extension with production support from LeAnn Locher, OSU Extension. The show is made possible by a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture.

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