By Kris Hill
The Paths of Study were created to better support students who already know what field of study they want to follow by making curriculum in an area more visible and more repeatable. The Food and Agriculture Path is designed for students focused on the intersection of sustainable food production, food systems, and social justice. The idea is to enhance students’ ability to understand the curriculum and make it more user-friendly for student navigation. One of the current 11 Paths, Evergreen’s Food and Agriculture Path, offers hands-on learning about the connectivity of soil, health, labor and cultural experiences in field-based learning at the Evergreen Organic Farm, the Evergreen Satellite Food Bank, as well as the student-run collective, the Flaming Eggplant Café.
Unique to Evergreen, the Food and Agriculture Path includes Student Originated Studies (SOS), which allows students to design an internship with community partners, local nonprofits or worker-owned cooperatives and small farms, to put the theory of community-based learning into real-world application. Many of these internships have led to job opportunities within these organizations founded by Evergreen alumni. In fact, Evergreen alumni are a significant part of the local food systems as farmers, environmental and food justice activists, policy makers, small-scale food processors, entrepreneurs, and sustainable chefs. Many alumni are also the backbone in community organizations engaging in education that empowers both youths and adults through food systems. Cited from Fields of Learning: The Student Farm Movement in North America, a rich history starting back in 1972 of the Organic Farm as well as the evolution of the interdisciplinary studies of food and sustainable agriculture can also be read about in The Evergreen State College chapter written by Stephen Bramwell, Martha Rosemeyer, and Melissa Barker.
At Evergreen, building connections doesn’t just apply to academic coursework. Over the past summer, the Food and Agriculture Path received a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation through the academic deans to support the Organic Farm and student farm aides in growing, gleaning, and delivering over 1,000 pounds of fresh organic produce for distribution at the Evergreen Satellite Food Bank. This grant also supported the Food Bank’s operations and hired three student work-study positions to assist the AmeriCorps VISTA Hunger Free coordinator to allow distribution to continue over the summer.
For those unfamiliar with the Evergreen Satellite Food Bank, it is located in the Community Center for Learning Based Community and Action (CCBLA), Seminar Building 2 E2115, and runs its distribution on Tuesdays from 4 until 6 p.m. In partnership with the Thurston County Food Bank, the Evergreen Satellite Food Bank was established in 2012 to serve students and community members. No one is turned away from services and you don’t need a student ID to receive food that is distributed in a shopping model, similar to the downtown food bank.
Visit the Evergreen Satellite Food Bank’s website at https://www.evergreen.edu/communitybasedlearning/campusfoodbank for more information about food bank services.
For students interested in getting involved with the campus’ food bank or other ways to connect their learning with volunteering, internships, and work-study, the location of the food bank in the CCBLA is ideal. The current campus food bank coordinator, Sheridan Turner, can be reached at evergreensatellite@gmail.com for more information on volunteering with the campus’ food bank. Students can also come to the CCBLA to find a bulletin board full of current community opportunities, as well as visit https://www.evergreen.edu/communitybasedlearning to learn more.
The Flaming Eggplant Café also received funding in order to renew their vision and goals, as well as to develop curriculum for the Flaming Eggplant Café: Cooperative Food Business Management program. With the aim to reopen for winter quarter, the Café is a place to eat ethically sourced and affordable food, while also being a safe space for relaxing, educating, and organizing. The Flaming Eggplant Café: Cooperative Food Business Management program will offer students the opportunity to engage with cooperative leadership and business management, kitchen management, and food systems with collective action and anti-oppression culture at its center.
Visit the Flaming Eggplant’s blog at http://blogs.evergreen.edu/theflamingeggplant/ to learn more about the academic program offering and the Café’s mission and values.
The Food and Agriculture Path offers interdisciplinary repeating programs such as Practice of Organic Farming, Food, Health and Sustainability, and Ecological Agriculture. Analyzing Permaculture Systems, Eating in Translation, and The Flaming Eggplant were offered in fall. One new program starting this winter is Comparative Eurasian Foodways: A Cultural, Agricultural, and Gastronomic Odyssey. In this program students have two travel abroad opportunities with one option being China during winter quarter and the second option to travel to Greece and Italy in the spring. In order to develop their understanding of China’s food systems, students will spend three weeks in Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Wuyishan. While on this trip, students will eat at food markets, participate in a seasonal wild-harvested food festival and tea tastings, in addition to visiting museums and a performance. In spring quarter, students will travel for three weeks in Greece visiting Crete, Athens, the Peloponnese (to visit the other Olympia!), as well as northern Thessaloniki. Two weeks will be spent at a cooking school in south Italy and an eco-village/organic farm in north Italy—both being residence of Evergreen alumni! Students will explore the relationship between food, farming, archeology, and culture by visiting food markets, farms with on-site cooking classes, along with archeological ruins and art museums.
The Food and Agriculture Path supports the José Gómez Farmworker Justice Day, an annual cross-program event. This year the event is planned for week two of spring quarter on Wednesday, April 8, 2020. The José Gómez Farmworker Justice Day pays tribute to former Evergreen faculty and civil rights activist, José Gómez, by celebrating the resilience of farmworkers and activists. Featuring guest speakers from the Evergreen and local community, attendees can participate in workshops that develop an understanding of farmworker struggles and what actions we can take both as individuals and collectively to dismantle systemic oppression in favor of an ethical food system.
Students wanting to engage in extracurricular food and agriculture work can find student-directed clubs that receive funding for projects through Student Activities and the Clean Energy Committee. Located at the Organic Farm, the Community Gardens provides students with a free garden plot and partners to host the annual Harvest Fest, as well as being the home of Demeter’s Garden. The Herbal Medicine Club and Myco-Collective are wonderful groups for those learning to use food as medicine, while groups such as the Food System Working Group, Food Justice Collective, and the WashPIRG Evergreen Chapter are perfect for those wanting to engage in community action and systems thinking.
At Evergreen, thinking globally and acting locally is common messaging, so while Evergreen provides its students with a plethora of learning and working opportunities, the college has also built many community partnerships. Organizations such as GRuB (Garden-Raised Bounty), Tumwater F.R.E.S.H (Farm Rooted Education for Sustainability and Health), Freedom Farmers, and KinderGarden in the Garden, focus on agriculture-based learning for youth, utilize Evergreen’s Organic Farm, and receive support from Evergreen faculty and alumni involvement. These organizations also create internship opportunities for Evergreen students to participate in community empowerment through food systems-based education environments.
These community partnerships are a valuable asset for the development of college-age and older returning students via hands-on learning experiences in organizational work. These partnerships also provide a great resource for marginalized and underserved youths who are also in vulnerable places in their lives, where a sense of belonging and community is a critical piece, enabling them to thrive in a learning environment. Read onto the section entitled “Spotlight on Local Food and Agriculture Partners” to learn more about some of the community partners who are looking to expand Evergreen student involvement. If you’re interested in learning more about the Food and Agriculture Path, visit the website https://www.evergreen.edu/studies/path/food-and-agriculture to see all the programs being offered. Students still exploring their interests can learn more about the Paths of Study by contacting the Academic Advising Office or emailing paths@evergreen.edu. Evergreen’s flexible structure allows students the freedom to change their area of study without it affecting their credits in a bachelor’s degree or graduation date.
Spotlight on Local Food and Agricultural Partners:
At GRuB (Garden-Raised Bounty), adult, veteran, and youth programs focus on developing leadership and healthy relationship skills to build resilient communities with the intersection of propagating and preparing nourishing foods. Similar to Evergreen’s food and agricultural curriculum, the goal of these programs is to aid students in personal development through sustainable land stewardship and civic engagement, in order to help them think and act critically to break the cycles of poverty, hunger, and injustice. Students who have been unable to thrive in a traditional academic setting also have the opportunity through GRuB’s partnership with GRAVITY (GED+Re-engagement Alternative Vocational Individualized Training for Youth), to work towards their GED. GRuB also goes beyond fostering future generations by supporting adults through their Cultivating Community Leaders program, as well as veterans through the Victory Garden Program and the Victory Farm. The Victory Farm is a small-scale urban farm located behind the Lacey Satellite Food Bank established through the partnership of GRuB and the Thurston County Food bank. The Victory Farm is a healing space for veterans to learn agricultural skills, build community, and reconnect with nature. Last year an Evergreen undergraduate worked with GRuB as an intern to construct the Victory Farm and has since graduated to becoming the current full-time farm manager! Evergreen students interested in developing their own agriculture and community leadership skills can find ample volunteer and internship positions by visiting https://www.goodgrub.org/
Inspired by GRuB’s model of learning, Tumwater’s F.R.E.S.H (Farm Rooted Education for Sustainability and Health) is a high school-based program where students can earn credit through self-improvement, job skill training, paired with growing food for school cafeterias, food banks, senior centers, and community members struggling with hunger. The partnership between F.R.E.S.H and Evergreen has been crucial as Evergreen interns helped establish the farm, continue to mentor students in the field and classroom workshops, work as summer program youth counselors, and have allowed field trips to the Evergreen Organic Farm where youths have assisted in work parties and benefit from participating on a larger farm with older students. This is a partnership F.R.E.S.H hopes to continue expanding upon with more campus tours and visits to Evergreen classrooms for students to envision the potential of a pathway in agriculture through post-secondary education, along with fostering more intern work at F.R.E.S.H as apart of their Evergreen experience. Aside from students engaged in the Food and Agriculture Path, other disciplines such as social work and youth development are a great fit as well for internship positions at F.R.E.S.H. Students interested in learning more and getting involved with F.R.E.S.H can contact Program Manager and teacher, Kristen Maring, at Kristen.Maring@tumwater.k12.wa.us.
Similar to F.R.E.S.H, the Freedom Farmers is another youth focused program for high school students to gain credit in an alternative learning environment. The Freedom Farmers students can participate in a year-round program where they can receive credits in biology, American history and horticulture, as well as job training on the Olympia School District owned Muirhead Farm. The food grown by students goes directly back into the school districts food system, as the food is primarily grown for the cafeterias, summer lunch programs, and even for SafePlace. Contact
Jason Peetz at jpeetz@osd.wednet.edu to find out about internship opportunities with the Freedom Farmers.
Down at Evergreen’s Organic Farm students occasionally see a visiting group of tiny children being guided through the farm by the whimsical voice of Stephanie Cholmondeley, creatress, founder, and educator of the KinderGarden in the Garden (KGiG) program. Another partner program of GRuB, KGiG serves students from ages 18 months to 7 years old with a special focus on children of color, connecting histories, community values, and cultural celebration to the shared natural environment. KGiG creates learning environments designed for students to see their education as something that belongs to them and become active participants in their learning as well as promoting the interconnectedness of nature and people. Having their own farm site, KGiG’s mission is to build healthy communities by setting a foundation for their students with healthy eating habits, cultural knowledge and traditions, and instilling food justice at a young age. Students interested in learning more or who have children that this program could benefit from should check out https://www.kindergardeninthegarden.com/ for more details.
