So, who are we?
We are Zoe Abram and Rachel Greenspan, two Gallatin students with a Green Grant and the beginnings of a gardening club!
Zoe: Gallatin Junior concentrating in Environmental Policy (specifically Agricultural and Coastal Policy). Excited about urban ag, politics, bread baking, regional food systems, travel, and all things nautical.
Rachel: Gallatin Senior concentrating in Food Studies, Sustainable Business and Marketing. Interested in gardening, cooking, Italy, her CSA, and yoga.
What is this … Community Agriculture … thing?
In May of 2008, we were awarded a Green Grant to start a Community Garden club at NYU. In September, we applied for All-Square Club Status. So far, we are a small club with lots of enthusiasm and hopes about the garden we will plant this spring. Cold frames, raised beds and a tentative vertical garden plan are in our future! We plan to partner with an existing Green Thumb Community Garden on 1st Street between 1st and 2nd Ave. This partnership will include active participation in their existing garden, and initiative to begin more food production in the sunny back section of the garden. We are also looking to partner with other community gardens, and are still open to suggestions about the best location to utilize our Green Grant funding.
We also started this club because we want to learn more. We aren’t expert gardeners or farmers. We are students. We want to learn more about this process — the growing, the technology, the soil, the composting, the harvesting, the cooking and the community building! Soon, we are going to build our very first cold frame. We’re interested in members who have knowledge to share, and those who want to learn with us!
What’s happening right NOW?
Does this sound like a lot of future plans? It is. But we are also active as a club right now! Future events for the fall include a (boiling water bath) Canning Workshop, a few Pot-Luck dinners, and a symposium with the highly-knowledgable Adam Brock about his Urban Agriculture research. We’d love to have you on our mailing list!
How did this project start?
As local food advocates, we were unsatisfied with the lack of attention paid to food production at NYU. We want to involve students in the local community outside the University, and at the same time raise awareness and involvement in growing food. Urban agriculture has great potential, and will serve as an integral part of a sustainable food system. Growing food is also a powerful point of connection for communities. It is productive (literally), exciting, and rewarding. In a recent discussion with other students interested in social justice, someone asked whether the local and sustainable food movement was just about choosing to consume differently. We say no. While food is a basic type of consumption we all practice daily, the ideology, politics and practical benifit of local and sustainable food is not just confined to making different purchasing decisions. Through our new club at NYU, we would like to increase students knowledge about food production as part of a fun and engaging community!
