The Farm Project donates organic produce to food bank
Published Sept. 21, 2007
On a warm September day, a group of environmentally conscious students gathered around rows of peppers, cabbage and sweet potatoes and went over what is ripe and what can be thrown away. After a short lesson, the picking began and cardboard boxes filled with bright yellow peppers. For the Sustain Mizzou organization, this is just a regular Thursday.
Sustain Mizzou is a student-run effort that aims to increase awareness and volunteerism for the environment. Its members coordinate many recycling programs on campus and lend a helping hand to bike transportation and energy management. Two years ago, the organization added another venture to the mix with the Farm Project.
For the past two years, Sustain Mizzou has gathered organic produce to donate to the Central Missouri Food Bank.
"We harvested over 5,000 pounds of local organic food," Sustain Mizzou President Ben Datema said. "Right now, we have about 600 to 700 pounds, and it's going up as we continue to harvest."
Sustain Mizzou got involved in the program when Columbia's Community Garden Coalition asked if the organization would be interested in tending to a few rows in a half-acre of land.
"We wanted to grow some food for people in need, and we wanted to give students an opportunity to get out and get their hands dirty," said Adam Saunders, who helped coordinate of the project.
Sustain Mizzou helps during the entire process, which begins in mid-March with soil preparation and ends in the fall with harvesting. Even in the summer, when many students find their way back home, Sustain Mizzou members stay in the garden.
"Adam Saunders and I worked together over the summer to get people out here," Datema said. "It was hard since a lot of people went home for break. But we still came out once or twice a week and worked."
Each week, the real reward comes when the group delivers the harvest to the food bank, Datema said.
The delivery itself is unique, since fruits and vegetables are hard to come by for families in need.
"Fresh produce is not generally distributed at a non-perishable food bank, but then the food itself lacks essential nutrients," Saunders said.
Datema said he has first-hand experience with volunteering at a food bank.
"I worked at this food bank, and we had a full palette of candy bars, dessert, and chocolate," he said. "We had one box of canned vegetables. Part of this effort is to address that need."
Also, there's a therapy from the project that cannot be duplicated anywhere else.
"We connect students to the outdoors and to a garden," Saunders said. "It's a unique experience that students in this generation don't know much about."
Each week, the group sees a few newcomers, and Thursday was no different. Freshman Emily Gilbert came looking for something to do.
"I went to a Sustain Mizzou meeting just last week," Gilbert said.
Although Gilbert is an agriculture major, the Farm Project isn't restricted to just this major. There are religious studies, journalism and biology majors knee-deep in peppers each week.
"I have yet to find a major that doesn't apply to sustainability and Sustain Mizzou," Datema said. "In fact, I can't find one."
Sustain Mizzou will continue to gather vegetables every Monday and Thursday until the end of the harvest season.