Friday, November 9, 2007
COMING SOON
Eastside Edible Schoolyard Proposal
REVISED 10/17/07
COMMUNITY GARDEN PROPOSAL
Drafted: August 25, 2007
Intended For: The Department of Housing and Residence Life
By: Lacy E. Nichols
PROPOSAL
What: A long-term community garden similar to that of the LLC’s Edible Garden for the East side of Appalachian State University’s campus.
1) To create and maintain a space that students and residents can be proud of.
2) To promote sustainability and to educate residents of ways to be self-reliant.
3) To have a good source of organic vegetables for students and residents who find it difficult to purchase these items on campus.
4) To build community through service by providing fresh vegetables to organizations like the Food Bank and the Hospitality House.
5) To build community between the residents of both East side areas: Pinnacle and Eastridge.
6) To make this an on-going project, lasting year after year.
Location: The proposed location of this garden would be the grassy area behind White Hall. There are several reasons for this choice:
1) The sunlight hits this area perfectly, and there is no shelter.
2) It is a low traffic area.
3) It is near the residence halls, not an academic area.
4) It is centrally located for the East side of campus.
5) It is somewhat hidden, reducing the chances of vandalism and destruction.
1) tomatoes
2) lettuce
3) okra
4) peas
5) squash
6) cucumbers
7) 1-2 raspberry bushes
8) watermelon
9) a small variety of flowers
10) zucchini
Possible Issues/Concerns:
A) Season Changes
a. Because of the extreme weather conditions in Boone, it would be necessary to start this project in April and end it as soon as the first signs of snow arrive. This would mean that the majority of the gardening would be done during Summer, the first month or two of school and the last month or two of school. This shouldn’t be a problem, due to Summer Classes (usually housed in White.)
b. This has not been too big of a problem for the LLC, and the Community Guides and teachers in Watauga College could probably provide solid advice on how to deal with this issue.
B) Cost
a. Assuming that this would start in Cone Hall with Lacy Nichols getting it started, the initial costs could come from a hall or area budget.
b. One goal is to receive educational programming grants to help cover a few of the start-up costs. Since this program is educational in nature, this will hopefully be a fairly simple process.
C) Vandalism and Destruction
a. It is safe to assume that as with any Bulletin Board on campus, the garden would be subject to vandalism, but it is hoped that it will instead be a source of pride for all residents.
b. If the garden is vandalized, it wouldn’t be something to difficult to fix with a little extra work and some clean-up efforts.
a. It is my intent to personally maintain the garden during the summer of 2008 with the hopes that each summer following, a summer school RA or RD will be interested in taking on this project as their responsibility. This would free Appalachian State University and the department of housing and residence life from the financial burden of having to hire someone.
b. There is also a possibility of forming an Eastside Garden Coalition through CRSA which could come up with other possible solutions for this problem.
c. I think that it would be a safe bet to assume that at LEAST 2 summer school students per session would be interested in helping to maintain the garden.
Lacy E. Nichols,
Resident Assistant, Cone Hall
Edible Schoolyard Third Blog Posting
General Edible Schoolyard Research
Students at the University of Kentucky took a course specifically on organic farming and gained a great amount of knowledge and respect for farmers and their way of life. These students learned the appreciation of time and time management after witnessing how local farmers nurture their crops on a daily basis. Students who are active in cultivating the garden will become much more diversely knowledgeable about the methods of raising crops and going through the process of distributing them to others in the community. Students learned how to incorporate sustainable development into farming and agriculture along with their daily lives. These students learned to greatly appreciate nature and the outdoors by taking this course and working in the garden.
If enough students become interested in working in the garden, there is a possibility of creating a class outside of the Living Learning Center involving the Edible Schoolyard. Creating this class will allow students to learn by not only working hands-on in the garden, but also gaining literary and scientific knowledge about how to improve their garden. Students will be able to use the crops they raise for their own. Being poor college students, the thought of not having to pay as much for food might sound nice. Having the crops they raised on their own will give them a sense of greater satisfaction when the cook their own meals with them. By learning the ways of sustainable development in agriculture the students and faculty will learn to incorporate this new way of thinking into other subjects as well.
Does being involved with a garden change a college student’s view of the food they consume?
I feel that being involved in a garden will definitely change the student’s view of the food they eat but not enough to make them want to change what they currently eat. When you produce your food from a garden, you get to see the process from start to finish and the satisfaction of knowing you did it all yourself rather than just buy whatever you could be growing in a garden. It’s a daunting task to trace the ingredients of a meal back to its source but we usually don’t stop to think about where it came from. Each ingredient of the average American meal travels about 1,500 miles to get to you. Grocery stores litter the U.S. and most of them are stocked by non-local sources. They have made it convenient for us to get the food we want when we want. We can buy fruits and vegetables out of season the entire year and even food that is grown nowhere in the US.
However, if it does change the way a student views the food they consume, and they turn to eating out of a garden, they can enjoy many benefits both immediate and some that are not.
- Cuts down on the use of fossil fuels and leads to an altogether a healthier planet.
- It is a more sustainable and personal means of consumption.
- It creates a more personal understanding of where food comes from.
- Eating the freshest food is the healthiest for both people and the earth.
- You can breed your food for a full ripe taste.
- Growing from a garden means no hormones and DNA manipulations.
- There is a reduction of emission of carbon dioxide and harmful gasses into our atmosphere when we travel less to obtain food.
- Eating from a garden also limits what we eat therefore people who chose to use it benefit greatly in health.
What goes into creating an Edible Schoolyard?
In 1995, famous chef Alice Waters began an Edible Schoolyard at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle school in response to her realization about increasing obesity among students in the public school system. According to an article published in December 2006, “[She] began with an unused, abandoned acre on the side of Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School and planted it with seasonal produce, herbs, vines, berries, flowers and fruit trees. The garden now also includes a seed propagation table, tool shed, wood-fired oven, picnic area and chicken coop. Two teachers, the chef teacher and the garden teacher and manager, run the program. Throughout the school year, sixth, seventh and eighth grade students are involved in the garden and kitchen, preparing the beds, sowing the seeds, transplanting, composting, watering, weeding and harvesting. Kitchen activities include preparing the recipe of the day, setting the table, eating, cleaning up and preparing scraps for compost.” Another article published in September 2006 describes an Edible Schoolyard that is being established in New Orleans to help in the recovery from Hurricane Katrina. “Ten years strong at the Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in Berkeley, California, Alice Waters’s Edible Schoolyard is sprouting new growth at the Samuel J. Green Charter School in New Orleans, the site of Waters’s first full-blown satellite program.” The man who started Green School is now the principal. “Tony Recasner, a psychologist and former Loyola University faculty member, opened Green School in January—four months after Katrina.” “Although development of the garden and the kitchen classroom will take time, food is already a critical part of the Green School curriculum. Students will be involved in planning the garden and will visit with local farmers and chefs. And cafeteria food purchased from Louisiana farmers will insure that they eat “fresh and local” while the school puts down roots in its community.” All of this research suggests that it is good for students to be involved with the entire process of developing an Edible Schoolyard. In the Green School of New Orleans the students are going to be involved with planning the garden, deciding what to plant and how to lay out the schoolyard. In our project we will also be working with students who want to be involved with the Edible Schoolyard to plan out what to plant, when to plant, and how things should be laid out in the garden to be aesthetically pleasing and functional. In an article from Organic Gardening Magazine Nov/Dec 2005 edition there are actual steps to help schools develop their own Edible Schoolyards:
“How to get started:
Form a garden committee. A group of parents must convince teachers and school board members the importance of having a garden. They must also convince teachers that this is a priority; a lasting, sustainable program; and a benefit to students,
Present the committee's proposal to the school board. Include the identification of a site on school grounds or nearby; a safety and maintenance plan; and well-defined roles for parents, teachers, administrators, volunteers, and students.
Broaden your appeal. Engage other parents and officials by showing them how the garden will improve their children's health and the health of the community. Look for local, state, and federal grants addressing childhood health and education issues. Seek out local partners through the business and social-services communities.
Call for volunteers. Service programs such as AmeriCorps are one source. Garden manager Kelsey Siegal started at the Edible Schoolyard as an AmeriCorps volunteer.”
In our project, the first step has not been a problem because there is already an Edible Schoolyard on campus and that makes it easier to convince school administrators that such an endeavor is beneficial. This project emphasizes the benefits of the LLC Edible Schoolyard and suggests that there should also be one on the other side of campus for students who are interested in gardening and growing their own food. Lacy Nichols, an RA in Cone Hall had already begun the second step that the article suggests and the current proposal that has been presented to the Housing and Residence Life department is posted above.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Edible Schoolyard LLC
The Edible Schoolyard at the Living Learning Center has a tool shed where the Edible Schoolyard class keeps the tools they use in the garden. This fall an artist from the LLC decorated the shed.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Edible Schoolyard Second Posting
Edible Schoolyard Second Posting
Timeline
T: 10/23
Meeting with Joe at 11:00 A.M.
Group meeting from 11:20 to 12:15 concerning timeline and blog
Lunch @ 1:00/meeting with David about possible contacts
2:00 group meeting
W: 10/24
3:00 meeting with Joe
R: 10/25
Group meeting about second blog post morning and afternoon
Possible meeting with RD from Cone Hall and/or landscaping people/ACT office
Research at library in afternoon
T: 10/30
2nd blog posting due
Possible meeting with Harris (RD from Cone Hall) or Lacy Nichols (RA from Cone)
Put together small presentation for Landscaping/funding etc.
12:00 meeting with Joe
Afternoon meeting with Jim Bryan (Landscaping)
Talk to B.R. about funding (esp. Parent Association grant)
R: 11/1
Meeting with Harris or Lacy (if not possible Tuesday)
FUNDING!!! Investigate all possible grants & opportunities for donations
Continue working on funding over weekend!
T: 11/6
Begin securing materials for Edible Schoolyard (e.g. seeds/plants, tools)
Start informing students in Cone about new project; get volunteers
Work on plan for Edible Schoolyard layout (input from Jim? and B.R.)
R: 11/8
Continue work from Tuesday
Group meeting about project presentation
T: 11/13
Possible planting/construction day
Continue work from previous week
Work on project presentation
R: 11/15
Possible planting/construction day
Finalize project presentation over weekend (KEEP SCHEDULES CLEAR)
T: 11/20
Practice Presentations!
Research
Does being involved in a produce/edible garden change what students eat?
Hypothesis: While many students at Appalachian State express that they feel that they should be eating healthier, organic, locally grown foods, the fact is that they do not have time. Many of the students at Appalachian have loaded schedules and in their time outside of class many turn to finishing homework assignments. It would not be in their interest to eat out of a garden when they have meal plans and food already prepared waiting for them to buy. It takes time to prepare food that is picked and while some may turn to it as a source for a snack, students most likely cannot sustain themselves on only food from a garden. Therefore, the vast majority of students would not change what they eat if they were involved in a community garden.
Evidence: For my evidence to support my hypothesis I interviewed students and asked them if they would change their diets if exposed to an edible garden. It was about 50/50 but I feel that on a larger scale there would be a majority that would continue their current eating habits. While edible schoolyards are being developed all over the country, our society has come to depend on industrial food that is produced on a much larger scale. The food that edible schoolyards produce has little chance of making it into the industrial food market when we can buy non locally in large amounts for cheaper than we could buying local organic food. America is a fast food nation just like Eric Schlosser says in his book. Fast food is a part of America that is so deeply embedded in our society that I feel, unfortunately will never change. We want whatever is easiest for us to do, and obviously it is much easier to go into Taco Bell or McDonald’s to grab a bite to eat than it is to spend time picking vegetables out a garden. Then there is the factor of all the time it takes to tend to a garden and the preparation time that goes into making a meal from scratch. So, therefore I stick strong to my hypothesis that no, being involved in a garden would not change the way that students eat.
“Well by having a garden, I would eat healthier foods which I grew. My only problem would be making time in my busy schedule to do so.”
-Matthew Johnson
“No it wouldn’t change what I eat because I will always eat what I do. I also just don’t like eating things straight out of a garden.”
-Brian McIndoo
“I would eat what I grew. I live off campus and have my own kitchen, so yes.”
-Randy Talent
“Yes, I love being involved in ESY. I love to garden and to eat what has been planted. The food taste much better and I also save money.”
-Donlee Likins
“No, because if it involves preparing food then I don’t feel its worth the time as long as there is a cafeteria”
-Swede Oppermann
“No vegetables sit well with me. I would not be able to sustain from a garden.”
-Cade Raper
“Yes, I try to eat healthy and organic whenever I can, so this would provide me with more opportunities to eat better and healthier.”
-Thomas Schlyy
Does being involved with a garden change a college student’s view of the food they consume?
Hypothesis: Being involved with a garden encourages college students to question their own food. It also makes them curious about gardening practices and helps them to realize how much effort really goes into the food they eat.
Evidence: According to the Edible Schoolyard website, they “learn about the connection between what they eat and where it comes from”. “Student participation in all aspects of the Seed to Table experience occurs as they prepare beds, plant seeds and seedlings, tend crops, and harvest produce. Through these engaging activities, students begin to understand the cycle of food production.” By being involved with all the different aspects of producing their own food, college students would gain a better understanding of food production and an appreciation for the work that goes into producing the food they eat every day. The Edible Schoolyard also helps students learn about eating healthy and the joys of growing their own food. The students can grow vegetables in the Edible Schoolyard and because they have grown the food themselves, the students are more likely to eat the healthy foods. “Alice Waters, a well-known California chef at Chez Panisse launched her "Edible Schoolyard" 10 years ago. Now her pilot program is going district-wide in Berkeley, Calif., to help kids make the connections between food and table, good planting and good eating.” College students have an even greater capacity for realizing the connections between gardening, eating and food production because they are starting to explore their own food options. College is often the first place that some people learn to cook and balance their own eating and health needs. “The idea behind the Edible Schoolyard--to address hunger and nutrition by helping children learn about agriculture and farming--is not unique to Berkeley. School gardens and farm-to-school programs are popping up in urban schools across the country. Districts from Harlem, N.Y., to Compton, Calif., are recognizing that partnerships with farmers, hospitals and other community institutions can support programs to reduce hunger and improve nutrition in low-income, urban settings.” This kind of high-level thinking and evaluation of the food system would be more understandable to college students because they are better at seeing the big picture. The knowledge that can be gained from learning to garden also contributes to being able to sustain oneself, especially when other food options are unavailable. The Edible Schoolyard program could also encourage students to volunteer more in the community; helping plant and maintain gardens for poorer people can reduce the money that they have to spend on food and can be very beneficial towards their overall health. As well, college students would be able to compare what they consume with some of the things they get from the garden and question things like Twinkies, which do not look like anything that could be grown. The garden would make them more curious about exactly where their food comes from too. They can follow the process of seeing their produce from the garden go to the kitchen and become part of a delicious meal. This could spark the desire to know where their other foods come from and even how their food was made.
Do college students have an interest in gardening and will it increase their appreciation for nature and outdoors?
Hypothesis: A majority of college students will be interested in gardening if it is convenient for them during a normal day. I think working with a garden on a daily basis will increase their appreciation for nature and being outdoors.
Evidence: According to the students I have talked to about their interest in gardening, approximately half stated they would be somewhat interested in doing some gardening as long as they got to use the crops for themselves. I think a good number college students will be interested in gardening especially if the garden is near their dorm and convenient for them to work in on their own time. We will talk with the students who are interested in working in the garden, which our group will aid in starting. Once the students learn about the benefits of growing your own food, such as the assurance of its cleanliness and cost efficiency there will be an increased interest in participating in the project. Working in the garden and growing crops from scratch will teach students to appreciate the food they eat. Growing their own food will give them a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. They will learn about the different techniques of gardening and grow to appreciate nature and the affects nature has on their garden. This garden will provide an outlet for students who are stuck inside for most of the day studying and doing homework. It will serve as an excellent stress relief to distract their minds from everyday problems. The garden will allow them to appreciate nature more by using gardening as a calming exercise so that they will associate it with peace and relaxation. Our group’s aspirations are for more college students to become involved with gardening and getting others involved as well by spreading the knowledge and benefits they have obtained with others around campus. Hopefully through this project all the dorms on campus will offer gardening as an activity and outlet for students to enjoy nature and the great outdoors.
Edible Schoolyard Introduction
Edible Schoolyard Project Introduction
Aly Witter, Katie Shawcross, Mark Taylor
3 Research Questions and Hypotheses
Does being involved with a garden change a college student’s view of the food they consume?
Hypothesis: Being involved with a garden encourages college students to question their own food. It also makes them curious about gardening practices and helps them to realize how much effort really goes into the food they eat.
Does being involved in a produce/edible garden change what students eat?
Relevance: This research question is relevant to our topic because our entire mission is to provide a produce garden on campus so that students may learn about healthy eating as well as endorse it as a source of healthy and organic food rather than rely totally on meal cards and the cafeteria.
Hypothesis: While many students at Appalachian State express that they feel that they should be eating healthier, organic, locally grown foods, the fact is that they do not have time. Many of the students at Appalachian have loaded schedules and in their time outside of class many turn to finishing homework assignments. It would not be in their interest to eat out of a garden when they have meal plans and food already prepared waiting for them to buy. It takes time to prepare food that is picked and while some may turn to it as a source for a snack, students most likely cannot sustain themselves on only food from a garden. Therefore, the vast majority of students would not change what they eat if they were involved in a community garden.
Do college students have an interest in gardening and will it increase their appreciation for nature/ outdoors?
Hypothesis: A majority of college students will be interested in gardening if it is convenient for them during a normal day. I think working with a garden on a daily basis will increase their appreciation for nature and being outdoors.
Description of How Project Relates to Course
Our group project is focusing on involving college students in gardening and seeing how if at all it would affect what they eat. We will incorporate things we have learned in class and teach fellow students the concepts and benefits of gardening and eating locally grown organic food. Kingsolver repeatedly mentions in her book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle the gratification she gets by growing and consuming food that she raised herself. By teaching students what we have learned in class we will educate them about where their food comes from. Our hopes are for these students to use what we will teach them and incorporate it into their diets.
Specific Description of Method
The first thing we are going to deal with in our project is talking with all the people that need to be, or want to be, involved with this project. We need to discuss and plan the project with the Residence Director of the dorm we are building at and someone from the landscaping department so that we have permission to grow a garden on campus. We might also need to talk with some people from the University Administration to confirm that we have permission for the project. The next things to do will be to get people involved in learning about Edible Schoolyard and get some idea of how we are going to fund the project. This could be done by making a presentation to the RAs of the dorm and having them talk to their halls about it. Also, as for funding, we could apply for one of the grants that helped start the original Edible Schoolyard at the LLC, through the Parent’s Association. We could also approach local businesses with requests for donations of materials. There might even be some assistance from the members of the Edible Schoolyard class at the LLC by lending us tools or cuttings of plants in the current Edible Schoolyard. Once we get the materials we will help plan the garden and start planting things that can grow root systems over the winter and grow up in the spring. Finally, we will set up some sort of sign up system or other method of ensuring that people in the dorm can and will stay involved with the garden into the spring.
Responsibilities of Group Members
All members are in charge of researching and putting together individually-assigned tasks. All group members involved in acquiring funding and gardening.
Katie: Responsible for direct contact with people outside the group. In charge of setting up meetings with these people and updating the rest of the group.
Mark: Responsible for taking notes during meetings with Joe and others related to group. Should then type up notes and email to other group members and Joe.
Aly: Responsible for updating Joe about group progress by emails. In charge of putting together all group member’s information and posting to blog.
Expectations of Group Members
· Make sure to meet at expected pre-set times with your group members and Dr Joe Gonzalez.
· Make sure you are on time to all meetings and expect to stay the entire duration of the meeting.
· Finish all work assigned to you and turn in on expected deadlines. It is vital to do so that you do not penalize your group members for your irresponsibility.
· Provide your input at meetings with group and Joe. Remember that this is a group project and everyone’s opinion counts.
· Give Joe honest input and opinions while listening to what Joe has to offer to better the project.
· Provide everyone and their opinions and thoughts with the respect that they deserve.
· Be an active listener. Ask questions if you do not understand something or if you have an idea that you feel could be relevant to the project.
· Have fun and get involved with your group and the project they are doing. You will be working with these people for a long period of time. Get to know them.
Expectations of Community Partner
As a group, our expectations of our Community Partner are as follows. We expect our Community Partner to be available to meet with us at least every other week, and on scheduled meeting times. We expect honest feedback and suggestions, as well as cooperation and shared responsibility. Clear explanations of duties and confirmation in writing, as well as guidance in and out of the community will also be expected as part of the work/volunteer environment. We hold these expectations because we believe that having them will increase our chances of success with Community Partner and with the community.
Strengths
Our group’s biggest strength is the diversity of the people and personality types. Katie is ENFJ and is responsive and responsible. She is also a NF which means she is good at increasing fun, harmony and innovation within the group as well as communicating creatively with others. Katie also owns a nice camera which will enable our group to document some of the work we are doing in the new Edible Schoolyard. Aly is an ISTJ so she is practical, orderly and dependable. She is good at taking responsibility and getting work done through concentration and thoroughness. She is also the only ST in the group which gives her more responsibility to manage schedules, solve problems quickly, and use statistics to monitor progress. Finally, Mark is an ESFP. This means that he enjoys everything and makes things more fun for others as well as being good in situations where there is a need for practical abilities with people or things. Mark is the only SF in our group. This means he will be better at using tried and true methods, applying experience to practical jobs, sharing work well, and reviewing plans and materials from other group member to see what works best. Mark is also a laidback and practical person who can help the group with the more common-sense side of things.
Weaknesses
Individually, all of our group members have their flaws. Mark has ADD which can sometimes cause him to have trouble focusing on a task. He also often lacks initiative and would rather be told what to do in situations rather than inventing and acting on his own ideas. Finally, Mark is less detail-oriented than the others in the group which could cause some problems in situations where details are more important than just grasping the general idea. Aly is willing to take on too much responsibility especially when group members are slacking. She is also generally unwilling to confront issues with other group members if they occur. Katie is good at seeing problems with things but doesn’t always act on trying to fix these problems. As a group, we all share a weakness for having bad time-management skills and we don’t always plan well, especially as a group. This involves the fact that we are all involved with many different activities and classes outside of this project which makes it more difficult for us to plan together. We are also all procrastinators to different degrees and we all acknowledge that we have the bad habit of putting things off for later until it gets down to crunch time. Finally, our group tends to be less aggressive when dealing with other people, especially people that we need information from.