Challenges:
My club. It was difficult founding a club and than leading it on my own. It was also hard garnering interest because I didn't even know what the premise of the club was. Another challenge was how to help. I wanted to be as useful as I can without trying to be like a white savior, so trying to assist already existing organizations, which made for a difficult presentation process because I didn't know to package all the stuff I was doing into a pretty little tangible thing. Because I did not create a food forest or a big garden or even have one coherent thing. A surprise was how much I loved Sunhee's and being a part of Sunhee's. Sunhee's was originally part of my overarching plan to close the gap of privilege in Troy but once I learned about all the cool stuff Sunhee's was doing, I kind of found that my heart became really magnetized towards refugee resettlement. It was an issue with faces, an issue that I felt like there were enough people talking about that I could just support them because they knew more than me-- which is great! A success was my presentation I'd say, because I think the audience found my change in interest interesting and how privilege takes on different forms whether it be food security or simply being born in America. I'd say my immigrant stories were a success, I collected about twenty or so from students and did like a humans of new york but immigrants of the capital district social media campaign. I liked being able to combine my passion for writing with social justice. Overall, I'm glad I did this project. I wish I had done a two year project because this year was mostly spent learning, and I think if I had a second year I would do more actions. But I couldn't really do actions without first learning and understanding and following other people-- which was helpful! But it is sad to start learning about something that there will be no self follow through on.
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Bibliography:
Capital Roots Joseph's House Cornell Insitute for Agriculture Inquiry Dig In Farm Sunhee's Farm and Kitchen Farmers Market I met with Kevin Bayer today with Molly S.
He gave me some buckets that I will put around the dorms at some point this week to collect compost because a lot of food gets thrown away in the halls. Also, I talked to him about fair trade food in the dining hall, which is a big part of permaculture because it combines environmentalism with ethics. He said he would look into fair trade banana suppliers, and I will also research as well. We also talked about making the desserts the dining hall served fair trade because they 99% of the time are not. He said he actually made the switch once to fair trade sugar and cocoa, but apparently faculty members complained about the taste so they switched back to child slave produced ingredients.... I am hoping to reinstate fair trade desserts as well as educate the Emma community about fair trade and child labor because relying on vulnerable and tortured children to make what is perceived to be better cookies for our privileged student and faculty body, is not okay and abused privilege in its worst form. I will update on the garden as soon as I can, but I have a solid plan and must begin!! That is my next step! Hopefully by this week, I will have everything planted, the buckets layed out, a fair trade dining plan, and then next week I can do some more up cycling. I want to meet with the owner of Funcycled and talk about ways to upcycle at Emma Willard.. I have no update on Suzanne Baker and the school store, but I have sent her a list of products in the school store that use child slavery, and she seemed open to the idea of replacing products so hopefully that will go somewhere soon. I have sent Ms.. Baker a list of products that use child labor in the school store and she said she will try to replace them, though I am cynical because there is a lot.
My idea for the bucket gardens is to grow beets, carrots, rhubarb, Spinach, and kale.. These are all plants that grow well in the north east and are obviously super healthy to one's diet. They also taste quite good, if I may say so myself.. For the carrots, I need a bucket that is at least a foot deep which Mr. Calos said are abundant in Weaver basement. They also need holes at the bottom of the bucket for drainage. The type of bucket material does not really matter. For soil, I need red soil and some compost, which I can get from the dining hall. Then the bucket needs to be in a place that is semi shady and semi sunny. And I need to water it daily. I'll also need fertilizer to feed my carrots every week. After two months about, they can be harvested, so the residents will probably harvest them themselves.. I have the research done for the others too. So here are my next steps: 1. Gather the buckets, cut holes 2. Buy the seeds, soil, and fertilizer 3. Get the compost 4. Plant 5. Take care of plants And while I am taking care of my plants, I will be working on my other loose ends like the child slavery food products and trying to do more environmental stuff at Emma and more food justice.. There's that famine in Somalia and that seems like a significant cause my club can try to help aid with fundraising or something.. I painted the jugs and have a good idea of my bucket garden. I just need to buy everything.
Amy Halloran responded to my email after many many months and has informed me that she doesn't think that the cooking classes are possible. But that is alright because I am well into PLAN B! I have a very good bucket garden idea, and I have a write up, and now I just need to go, and do it. I just took a look at my timeline and here's an update: I have up cycled and I plan to do more.. I have talked to Ms. Baker about getting products out of the school store that use child labor and that is in the works. I have studied Troy's economic division, though I will do some more.. It's just hard to do because my permissions don't allow me to leave campus unless I am with a faculty member. What I need to do now is just begin this bucket project because it is getting late. . I have a rough idea for my bucket garden and what kinds of things I want to grow, but I need to get more specific and get a better idea of soil acidity.
At Sunhee's, I have been planning things like farm trips and ESL classes. for resettling immigrants. I really enjoy it, and I am not 100% sure on how this ties into my Signature project yet, but it does have to do with food and social justice, which is my project. Hopefully I will get more inspiration as time goes on and get a better understanding of food in Troy. I had the idea to upcycle some jars that were in Weaver attic which ties into the environmentalism of my project.
I also have started my internship at Sunhees which is a restaurant that combines ethics with food.. The owner, Jinah, does a lot with refugee housing and resettlement, and I am very excited to continue and see what is in store. I need to get started on my bucket garden soon because it will take a while to grow. I am quite behind on my project. Unfortunately, people don't like to respond to my emails within weeks. I think I need to adjust my project so that more of it depends on me being independent and not me relying on other people having a commitment to timely correspondence. I really want to get things done before I graduate, so here is my updated plan:
Go to Home Depot, buy buckets, seeds/plants, soil, make 20 bucket gardens.. Go to Funcycled, and get inspiration from upcycling projects, and find out what trash is often thrown away at Emma and how they could possibly be upcycled. Set up compost bins in the dorms This is my plan for the next few months, and I want to focus on these few things. Also I got a Saturday internship at Sunhee's in which I will be working on immigrant housing, refugee related realms, and community outreach. So hopefully that will be a good platform for me to expand my project into Troy. In September, I interviewed Jinah, the owner of Sunhee's. She has a really bright personality and a powerful purpose. Her Korean restaurant combines food with empowerment. Off their website, Sunhee's core mission states through social entrepreneurship, "Sunhee's hopes to create a safe space for cultural learning and innovative projects, all threaded together by food. Sunhee's mission can be broken down into the following elements: positive food culture, community engagement, and immigrant/refugee empowerment."
Jinah is very ambitious--she had the idea for a restaurant connected to social justice and empowerment in February of 2016, and then founded her restaurant in August of that year. She made connections, and got reliable resources and people to help her achieve her goal. And today, her business is surviving and thriving, feeding the people of Downtown Troy, including the spicy-food-craving citizens of Emma Willard. When I met with Jinah, she admitted she was unfamiliar with the concept of permaculture. Permaculture, which is the focus of my signature project, unintentionally aligns with the values and hopes of Jinah's business. Permaculture is founded on the belief that the intersection of people care, earth care, and fair share all create the most fruitful results. Sunhee's practically incorporates all these principles! The tenant of people care is emphasized through the focus on refugee housing, and the hiring of refugees. The tenant of earth care is emphasized through the focus of biodegradable take out boxes and the composting of food. The fair share aspect is still trying to be achieved, but Jinah is hopeful the restaurant will eventually become more financially accessible. Jinah places a strong emphasis on the connection people have with food. "A worker may have a strong connection or memory associated with tofu stew, but you may have a different experience and connection to your meal." I found this very interesting because I think one of the answers to food security and a decrease in food waste is through more people strengthening their connection with food. If people prioritized short supply chains and growing their own food, they would probably waste less and focus on healthy, nutritional foods and what they need to thrive, rather than processed, fake foods. People with stronger connections to their food would also be more likely to support local businesses and farmers, more efficiently stimulating their economy. Meeting with Jinah reminds me of why I am so passionate about permaculture and social justice-- because with enough hard work and energy and excitement, change/progress is inevitable. Because I will be unable to get the garden plot from Capital Roots this year, I have to think of a new idea that still incorporates food and equity.
When I met with Janet last month about the garden idea, she pitched the idea of doing bucket gardens. I think this is probably the best chance at involving Joseph's House residents at this point. The bucket garden idea was to have a bucket of soil and little plants grown in each one, and each resident could have a bucket to keep and take care of, and then when they leave the shelter, they can move the plants from the bucket into a bigger garden (or just keep the tiny bucket) and grow some amounts of food for themself, maintaining the aspect of food empowerment. I emailed Janet asking if we can get started on this project, and I have yet to receive a reply. I'm also still waiting on a reply about the cooking classes, but once I do get a reply, hopefully they can start to happen in February. |
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