Boys to Men: Ushering Boys into Manhood

Some years ago, when I was a middle-school history teacher,  I mentioned my family’s backyard garden while discussing the “victory gardens” of the Second World War—the last time a majority of Americans grew any of their own food. One student, with disgust and bewilderment written on her face, exclaimed, “Wait. You eat food from your yard? Like, in the ground, next to the dirt?”