Associate Professor of Geoscience David Bailey (kneeling at right) and a group of students take a break during work at the Community Farm Garden. The garden's "eat local" message is amplified by food-service provider Bon Apétit and its Eat Local Challenge, featuring foods provided entirely by area farmers.
A well-grounded sense of green
HAMILTON STUDENTS ARE ALSO TAKING THE MAXIM TO "EAT LOCAL" TO A new level — they're growing food crops right on campus. Late in 2007, a group of environmentally conscious students came up with the idea of creating a space on the Hill for a Community Farm Garden to grow organic vegetables. Receiving guidance and support from Graduates for a Greener Hamilton, they learned Frank Sciacca, associate professor of Russian, and David Gapp, professor of biology, were also planning a garden, so they teamed up and approached the President's Office with their joint idea. They quickly received financial support, and a ¾-acre plot was picked just downhill of the Ferguson parking lot on north campus.
The first major crop was harvested last summer, sold at a community farm stand and used by food-service provider Bon Appétit and the Woollcott Coop. Andrew Pape '11, one of the organizers who even worked to maintain the garden all summer, called it a "huge success" and sees the garden not only as a food source but as an excellent way to encourage people to consider the environmental costs of shipping food over long distances. "Most people are generally supportive of eating locally, with the caveat being when its convenient," he says. "I think that's something that everybody struggles with. I mean I do myself, too. I like eating bananas, for example, and they don't really grow around Hamilton.
"It's good to have the garden because that gives students a tangible way to connect" to the importance of eating locally, he says. Since "most people don't know where their food comes from, just being able to work in a garden, work with the vegetables, and then at the end of the day harvest them and bring them home to be a part of your dinner is just a really great feeling."
