Americans are wasteful. Especially food..and not knowing where it comes from other than the grocery store. Working in a back yard garden teaches children more than just letting life's lessons from our past heritage slip away, along with how they survived and actually had a good life. Understanding Why its important to see what its like growing your own food. (As I learned from my grandparents) Even on a small scale.. Kids do get it when started early enough...they love to show you what they planted & its progress. Actually proud of their success. I do believe that teaches a lot... You don't need government in your life to teach these things.. you may get a little Hungary, but you will never Starve.
As a youngster, I recall the county schools would let students out for a week to pick cotton to earn some spending money, even though farms also had began to use cotton pickers. It hard today for kids to go to work on some of the local larger scale farms with all the specialized equipment now being employed. Soon Robotics/Satellite technology will replace tractor drivers in the fields. Almost there. Next employment stop, program software writer for this field of study.