Slow Food on Campus at Hamilton College - Starting a Garden at MLK Elementary

Vital Stats

Lauren H

Clinton, NY

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  • People Doing It 50

The Problem

I am trying to solve the problem of the industrialized food system as it relates to inequalities of race and class. Through the creation of a Slow Food chapter at Hamilton College, I hope to raise awareness of the inherent inequities with the food system and the importance of shifting back to the land - supporting local agriculture and economies. Just as the Slow Food motto states, food as a universal right should be "good, clean, and fair." Tasty and pleasurable to consume, clean for the environment, and fair in terms of labor practices and wages. A more specific aspect of this problem is the current state of school lunches. Many elementary school students eat up to two meals a day at school, but schools are not granted the adequate resources or funds to make these meals healthy or nutritious. Children should know where their food comes from, how to grow and prepare it. It is this fundamental disconnect with our food that is harmful to ourselves and towards the environment. Through community action, raising awareness, and education, I believe we can fight industrialized food and restore the dignity once associated with growing and producing food.

Plan of Action

With regard to that, Slow Food at Hamilton is going to work with the Mohawk Valley regional chapter of Slow Food to establish a garden at Martin Luther King Elementary School in Utica, NY. MLK Elementary is one of the lowest-income schools in the area with an astoundingly high rate of diabetes. A school garden would teach elementary school students, many who are poor and of racial minority status, how to plant, grow, and harvest crops. Seeing the fruits of their labor, literally, would inspire and motivate these students, instilling in them values of hard work, environmental consciousness, and empowerment. Hamilton Slow Food hopes to send volunteers to the school to help out with after-school gardening programs on a weekly basis. We want to participate in the teaching, learning, and growing process, interacting with the kids regularly. The dilemma is, however, that in order to get the MLK Garden off the ground, it requires the necessary funding.
Go
Discrimination
Education Inequalities
Environment
Environmental Racism
Hunger
Homelessness and Poverty
Sustainability

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