My Experience With Community Gardening and Its Effects On Me Psychologically

For my Lang 120 Service Learning class, we are required to do service hours in an area related to food (which I've talked about previously). I've chosen to do the majority of my hours at one of the on campus community gardens, the ROOTS Garden. From the moment I started volunteering there, I fell in love. The entire place is full of magic and beauty, from the hidden mushroom den (pictured below) to the rows upon rows of various plants all around. Everything you see was put there for a reason and serves necessary purposes that I didn't even recognize when I first got there, such as the cardboard scattered around composting and the barrels collecting rainwater.

Recently, the Student Environmental Center has come up with a new project for the ROOTS Garden in which they would plant Black Locust trees and Chestnut trees on the property (because this area of North Carolina used to be covered in forests of them and they were as big as red wood trees) to preserve their history. This is what I have been working on for the past few weeks. So, my job has been to dig enormous holes, sift out compost (pictured below), carry it over to the planting site, plant the trees, and then dig rain catching trenches around them. Unfortunately, after we had completed the project and planted all of the trees, the Vice Chancellor (who lives on the property and needed the area) requested that we relocate them. I completely understand his need to have the land back, but it wasn't easy to dig up our lovely trees and replant them in the pouring rain.

Being in the garden has brought me an unexpected and overwhelming feeling of serenity, happiness, and purpose that I hadn't found yet in college. When I go to the garden, I know there will always be work for me to do and that my presence is helpful and appreciated, and that has meant the world to me. Just thinking about it while sitting here in my cramped, enclosed dorm room brings me a sense of peace. While I know all of this may sound incredibly cheesy, I mean everything I've said. I have never found a place quite so amazing as this. Through this entire experience, I have been able to learn so much about gardening and sustainable practices; also, since I am an environmental studies major this information will be very helpful for me and I'm glad I got to learn it hands on. I hope to continue this work throughout my college career and beyond, maybe even having my own garden just like it. Not only have I become much closer to nature through this work, I've also met a lot of people, from other volunteers to present and former garden managers for ROOTS, and all of them have been extremely nice and accepting. While I could probably go on forever about what I've done here and how it has affected me, I should probably leave it at this: I love the ROOTS Gardens and everyone I have met through it, and I deeply wish everyone could have an experience like this.

Pollan vs. Hurst

After watching the "debate" between Pollan and Hurst over farming techniques and organics, I have to admit that the passion they both show is admirable; both of these men are fully convinced that their side of the argument is correct. Their entire lives are based on convincing others that their side is right so that they can continue the same way of life. While I often agree more with the pro-organic and green side of things, Pollan and Hurst both make logical arguments. Pollan demonizes the industrial farming movement and its use of GMOs and chemicals and its over use of corn. I completely agree with him on the downsides of using GMOs and chemicals in food production, but I do not see the versatility of corn as a bad thing. GMOs have the possibilities to bring about stronger, more resilient pests and diseases and chemicals can be dangerous for both humans and the environment, but I can't see the danger in a food product such as corn being used in most products. I do see the issue of corn dominating the market, but since it can be grown by so many people and used in so many things, I don't know how it would amount to a problem. So, on this issue I must side with Hurst. I must side with him once again on the point of how irrational it would be to believe it is necessary and beneficial to forget all of the new farming technologies that have recently come about and go back to ancient farming ways to become "organic".

"An Open Letter From a Farmer to Angry Vegetarians"

To me, it has always been common sense that vegetarians and vegans chose their diet because of their compassion for animals and because diets like those save animal's lives. At least that's what I thought until reading Jenna Woginrich's article "An Open Letter From a Farmer to Angry Vegetarians." Woginrich brings up the point that. no matter what you eat, you are still taking lives, even if you are not eating animal products. Just because the taking of lives is much easier to see in a meat eating diet, that does not mean plant based diets are any different. She states that diets depending solely on plants take food and habitats away from the animals who need them, machines that harvest the crops kill animals living beneath them, and the many chemicals used on the crops poison and kill animals as well. As I said, I had never thought about a plant based diet being harmful to animals in anyway, but now that I have heard that side of the argument, I see the fact in it. Unfortunately, this also seems to mean there is little hope for humans to live in a way that we do not endanger our environment. I don't think I would have agreed with her point if she had not written her article in a way that applauds vegetarians and their choice of diet instead of attacking them for it the way many have done to her. If this had just been an angry response to people who insulted her, I would not have given her argument very much thought, so I'm glad she decided to write maturely.

My Service Learning Experience

Recently, as part of the service hours required for my Lang 120 class, I participated in my school's Greenfest. Greenfest is a week of activities around campus focused on educating our community about the environment, promoting sustainability, and doing what we can for our earth. Among the activities I participated in were a couple of shifts for Service Day. In one of my shifts, I spent an hour mulching the flower beds around campus; during the other, I helped with some planting around the observatory (pictured above). So, there we were, a group of kids rounded up from around campus who were not particularly familiar with the concept of manual labor, sent out to help the garden and landscaping crews with their work. I could tell the crew wasn't exactly thrilled to have our help, but at least they were amused. What we lacked in individual skill, we made up in number. We might not have been the most efficient bunch of people around, but we were dedicated to helping and by God, we did. The men would slowly and simply explain to us what needed to be done, how and where to do it, then we would set off and mess it up a few times, forcing them to show us again how it was supposed to be done. After a few rounds of this, we finally got the hang of the task at hand and really got it done. I can also say that I honestly learned a lot that day, though I am a little ashamed that I had no gardening skills to begin with. Without having the requirement of service learning hours, I don't think I would have gone out and done this on my own, so I'm glad that the fear of a bad grade pushed me into it. It felt amazing to take the day off and work with my hands to help the environment, and to give the men of the work crew a break.

Combating Obesity

It isn't a secret that American society is plagued with saturated fat, obesity, and the other health problems associated with it. But, who is to blame for it? If you have read Dhruv Khullar's "Why Shaming Obesity Won't Stop Obesity" you know that many people believe the blame lies with the consumers themselves and their parents. While it makes sense to point the finger at someone for their own obesity and health issues, it definitely is not always their fault. Many areas have very little or no access to healthy and fresh food options, which is in no way the consumers' fault. In these areas where healthy options are few and far between, fast food corporations take over and become the main providers for those citizens. The same goes for placing the blame on parents for their children being obese. While it makes sense to say that it is all their fault since they provide for them, they have no control over what food is available in their area and at what price. Also, they can't always control what their children eat while they are away from home, or how their bodies react to the food they eat. At the end of the day, no matter who is to blame for a person's obesity, shaming them and making them feel terrible will never solve the problem, which is Khullar's main purpose in writing his article.

Even more important than the question of who is to blame for this obesity epidemic is the question of how we stop it. After reading "Downsizing Supersize" by James Surowiecki, which is about Michael Bloomberg's policy of banning large soda's, it became clear to me that Americans truly love their sodas based on the uproar following the policy. This article really made me think about how many of my decisions are controlled by the factors involved and the people trying to persuade me one way or the other, rather than myself. This could be a good and bad thing. Good, because it means that there is a way for us to control and maybe fight the growing obesity rates with methods such as Bloomberg's. Bad, because this means that advertising and corporations as a whole control our lives a lot more than we ever thought. Over all, I believe our attempts at combating obesity should begin with educating people about what they are eating and making healthy food available to everyone, then later we can enforce policies.

Are We Seeing Food the Way We Should?

In Wendell Berry's "The Pleasures of Eating," he outlines a list of ways to eat more responsibility. Essentially, that list includes producing your own food, cooking your own food, learning where your food comes from and shopping locally, buying directly from farmers, learning about industrial food production, learning the best ways to farm, and learning about the life histories of food. I agree completely with all of these points except the last one; I don't really see the importance of knowing an organism's life history. I think it is definitely necessary for more people to be aware of their food, where it comes from, and what is actually in it, so that we can create a more sustainable society. Too many people are completely clueless to where their food comes from or if they are even paying too much for it. I feel bad saying it, but I am one of those people too. When I shop at the grocery store, I buy my food and leave as fast as I can, giving no thought to what I'm getting or why. I also never attempt to grow my own food, but it is something that I have really wanted to implement in my life.

In Food Justice by Gottlieb and Joshi, the injustices of food availability is described. When you compare this with Berry's work, you see that he has definitely made the assumption that people do not face food injustice. He makes it sound as if it is the consumer's fault that there aren't fresh fruits and vegetables available to them and that it is because of their unwillingness to shop locally that our earth is being so mistreated. But, both of these writings make the argument that fresh and local food should always be available and the first choice for consumers.

What Does Food Mean to Asheville, North Carolina?

When I think of Asheville, North Carolina, I think of acceptance and community. When I think of the food I find here, I have the same feelings. Everywhere you turn, there is a cuisine from a different culture that you probably would not experience in any other town in this area. The individuals here are focused on the health and quality of not only their own lives, but for the earth's as well. Every restaurant has vegan or meat reducing options along with sustainable packaging. The entire area has an atmosphere of encouraging conscientiousness in regard to human's footprint on the earth. To better represent what food means in Asheville, I have attached a photo I took at the farm to table dinner I recently attended on UNCA's campus. All of the food served to us was grown and cooked locally, by people who cared about the people eating it and the preservation of their environment. The tables were set up on the quad, the area decorated with plants and stacks of hay, live music played on a stage in front of us, and everyone in attendance seated together getting to know each other. We were a group of people from all over Asheville, brought together by our love for our town and our earth, focused on helping the planet and each other, which is exactly how I would describe the beautiful town of Asheville, North Carolina. Although I have not lived here long, I can honestly say I feel like I'm home now.

Service Learning

As of yet, the only hours I have been able to complete for my service learning requirement are the hours for two of the orientation classes. One was the service learning class orientation, the other was the SEC garden orientation, where we learned about on campus gardens and what we could do for them. Although I have not been able to engage in any service work, I am very excited to begin. For my entire life, I have been involved with volunteer work of all different kinds, from working in a hospital to logging records at my local museum; but, I have never participated in service learning. Service learning is a different category all together, it implies working with a community of people to better the area as a whole, as opposed to working for people like volunteering. When you volunteer and work for people, it enables oppressive mindsets to continue, and it also does not help the people you are working for learn how to help themselves rather than depend on others. With service learning and working with people, you build community and progress the entire area. Also, after your service is over, those you have been working with are better equipped to help themselves.

I already have a few things set up in the coming weeks to get my service hours, such as the farm to table dinner this week on campus, the Green Fest service day, and I plan to work in my assigned SEC garden. The dinner and service day were fairly easy things to set up and plan for, all I had to do was either sign up on a form or buy a ticket. For my shift at the SEC garden, I have had a little more trouble. When I first got my assignment of the ROOTS Garden, I had no idea where it was, since it was off campus. I have tried to go to it a few times with no luck whatsoever. Just the other day, I finally found it and am very excited to begin working there.

I know a lot of people consider service learning classes a chore and an extra work load, and I admit that I think that too sometimes, but I honestly love working for other people and I am happy that I took this class, even if it was an accident.

"Cultural Food"

When we hear "cultural food" we think of a specific group of people eating only certain types of food. But, what happens when the food we see as belonging to a culture has been skewed and no longer truly represents their heritage, or when a person of that culture doesn't follow the norm and eats something different? You might not want to admit it, but we all know what most people think about these situations, that "of course that represents their culture, I see it in all the movies" and "are they even a part of their culture if they don't eat that?" It is as if people fail to realize that, even if someone is different from them, they are still human beings and cannot be held to rules about how they should live because of those differences.
In "Reclaiming True Grits" by Bryant Terry and "Eating the Hyphen" by Lily Wong, we get firsthand knowledge of experiences like these and how it feels to be on the receiving end of such judgments. Terry describes society's definition of "soul food" and what it has become opposed to what it used to be. Today, soul food has come to mean food that is cheap and unhealthy when it used to represent food that was locally grown and high in nutrients. Wong tells us what it is like to be Chinese and yet feel as if you don't fit in your culture, because she Americanizes the way she eats dumplings. There is nothing wrong with food representing heritage or culture, but when we develop our own rules concerning the people it represents, it becomes a method of control and shame. Food is something that sustains our lives and displays our personalities, not something to use to control or define a group of people.

College "Food"

I have never thought much about the food I put into my body, at least not nearly as deeply as I have had to since taking my current college writing class. Most recently, I have been assigned to reflect on "You Can't Run Away on Harvest Day" by Barbara Kingslover and "Taking Local on The Road" by her daughter, Camille Kingslover. In the first piece, Kingslover tells us about her family's decision to live only off of food they grow themselves or food that is grown locally. In the second, her daughter tells us what happens when she starts college and is faced with a completely different variety of food than she is used to. I have always known that my own parents care very little for the words "healthy" and "moral" in relation to food, but I always thought that it would be simple, once I was out on my own, to switch lifestyles and eat food that was not only good for myself, but also for the whole world. Unfortunately, this has proven to be a feat much harder than I originally thought. With a complicated homework and class schedule, sometimes it is almost impossible to get an actual meal, let alone one that is good for anyone involved. Even if I did have the time and resources to eat well, I wouldn't know which foods I should choose anymore after being forced to question everything I thought I knew. I am certainly not complaining about this confusion, I am ecstatic that my mind is being opened by so may different arguments and viewpoints, I'm only saying that it has become much harder to justify my eating arrangements with anything that makes me feel remotely good about myself.

"Her Chee-to Heart" vs. "Not Just 'a White Girl Thing'"

"Her Chee-to Heart" by Jill McCorkle and "Not Just 'a White Girl Thing'" by Susan Bordo are two works that couldn't be more different and similar at the same time. They both outline the extremes of over indulgence and under indulgence and also the two severe aspects of society's portrayal of food and body images. I have also realized, after reading "Not Just a 'White Girl Thing'" that my view of what an eating disorder is and isn't follows the popular, but incorrect, thoughts of our society. Now that I am aware of my misconceptions, I am able to see what an issue it is that so many people consider eating disorders things only rich white girls deal with, as this takes credibility from other people who suffer from these disorders. Although Bordo made me seriously consider my own thoughts and the implications of those thoughts, reading "Her Chee-to Heart" honestly only made me uncomfortable. I have never heard someone describe food in the way McCorkle did, and unfortunately, her excellent imagery made it all too easy form me to visualize what she was describing. While reading, I became hyper aware of all of the junk food around me, and basically every unhealthy piece of food I had ever eating.

After seeing Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio's photo series titled, "What The World Eats" (http://time.com/8515/hungry-planet-what-the-world-eats/) my eyes have been opened to how differently other countries view food compared to my own. I've grown up accustomed to the mindset of food being entertainment and always available in vast quantities. I have never had to be too concerned about where my next meal would come from, or if I could afford a full meal, because there's always the McDonald's Dollar Menu when times get tough. Now that I have seen what families from across the world eat on a weekly basis, I'm a lot more self conscious about what I put into my body. In almost all of the other countries pictured, the majority of the groceries they had were of the healthy variety, such as fresh vegetables, fruits, grains and local meats. But, when the photos of America came up, there was always delivery pizza and 2 liters of soda present. Even in the countries who only spent a few dollars on food a week compared to the hundreds of dollars spent in first world countries, the few things they ate were always fresh and healthy. Although I would like to think that these images will play through my mind every time I go grocery shopping from now on and influence me to make healthier choices, I have to face the reality that this probably will not happen. Unfortunately, because of the society I live in, it will be a lot harder for me to change my lifestyle, and I'm not sure when I will be able to put forth that kind of effort. Until then, I raise my glass to those families out there who are more aware of themselves and what they are putting in their bodies.

There Are Foodies and Then There Are Eaties... Right?

Hi! My name is Stephanie, and I would like to introduce myself, not as a foodie, but what you could call an "eatie" I suppose. I have never been able to comprehend food as an art form (although I wish I could), I have only ever seen it as something that is unfortunately necessary. Recently, I have been faced with an extensive list of food allergies, leaving me to resent food and those who can so carelessly eat whatever they want. While food is definitely not a passion of mine, I certainly think it matters; our lives and minds almost revolve around it and its accessibility. When a person does not have food readily and easily available to them, their constant focus becomes how and where they will find their next meal to survive. On the other hand, when someone does have food constantly available to them, they are then focused on the many options before them, such as when and what to eat. Food has become a part of every aspect of our lives, from a source of entertainment, to a source of intimacy between people. It can represent a person's beliefs and personalty and then bring them together. I can't think of anything else as all encompassing as food, nor anything that can accomplish so much.