Progress 08/15/10 to 08/14/14
Outputs
Target Audience: University of Georgia students (primarily undergraduate) and faculty with an interest in local food systems. Changes/Problems: 1) The biggest change to the grant proposal and funding allocation was due to the unexpected interest in UGArden. This student-run farm was proposed in the original submission, however, the high level of student participation was not preducted. This necessitated a redistribution of funds to support the farm and related activitites. This did not affect the original intent or implementaiton of the grant. 2) A few changes also had to be made to the LFS core curriculum to adjust to changes in faculty teaching responsibilities, this did not affect the LFS Certificate, though it did affect the amount(s) allocated to faculty to support the creation of new courses. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? 1) Training session for faculty interested in creating new (or altering existing) courses to meet the LFS Certificate 2) PI attended NACTA meeting for USDA grant training How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? 1) Local Food Awareness seminar to prosent student activities of related to local foods 2) Faculty presentation seminar for faculty to share theri professional activites related to local food systems What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
LFS Certificate was developed, approved and implemented. Specific accomplishments include: 1) 6 new courses developed to support he LFS Certificate 2) 12 students have graduated (required to compelte certificate) with the LFS certificate 3) 28 students are currently enrolled in the certificate 4) 14 students participated in grant-supported internships 5) Two permanent internships now funded through partners UGA Office of Service Learning and UGA Office of Sustiainability 6) Student-run garden (UGArden) was established and now an integral part of the LFS Certificate and other related courses and programs. UGArden accomplishements are: a) 15,700 student volunteer hours logged working at garden or community garden partner sites b) 225 student contact hours for formal courses taught at UGArden c) Over 3400 students visited or toured UGArden
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2012
Citation:
Berle, D. 2012. Growing a student garden: An integrated approach to teaching, service learning and student recruitment. NACTA Conf., River Fall, WI.
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Progress 08/15/11 to 08/14/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Activities: 1) 25 students taught sustainable food production 2)25 students participated in capstone LFS Certificate geography course Events: 1) Local Food Awareness Day(symposium/cooking demo) 50 participants; Services: 1) Advised 25 students enrolled in Local Food Systems Certificate program; Products: 1)6 NEW undergraduate courses developed for the LFS Certifcate; 2) LFS Certificate website updated and expanded; 3) Developed educational recruiting video for LFS Certificate website; 4) Student-run sustainable farm expanded to 2.5 acres; 5) Student initiated mobile produce market in low income neighborhood; 6) Student sponsored "sister" garden established at local middle school; PARTICIPANTS: Faculty: 1) David Berle, Assoc. Professor Horticulture; 2) Dr. Hilda Kurtz, Assoc. Professor Geography; 3) Brad Davis, Asst. Professor Landscape Architecture; 4) Sharon Gibson, Extension Specialist Foods and Nutrition 5) Dr.Jenna Jambeck, Asst. professor of Engineering; 6) Dr. Elizabeth Little, Asst. professor Plant Pathology 7) Dr. Rob Nielsen, Assoc. professor Housing and Consumer Economics 8) Dr. Shannon Wilder, Director Office of Service Learning 9) Susan Varlamoff, CAES Office of Environmental Sciences Partner Organizations: 1) Athens Land Trust; 2) P.L.A.C.E.(Promoting Local Agriculture and Cultural Experiences); 3) Athens Clarke County School System; 4) Keep Clarke County Clean and Beautiful; 5) Campus Kitchen, Habitat for Humanity and UGArden student organizations; 6) NE Georgia Food Bank; 7) Athens Community Council on Aging. Training and Professional Development: 1) K-12 Teacher workshop on chicken flocks 2) K-12 Teacher workshop on raised bed construction and production 3) UGA student workshops on mushrooms, gourd drying, and seedling production. TARGET AUDIENCES: Target audiences: 1) College students 2) Local low-income families 3) Local school children Efforts: 1) Classroom instruction; 2) Student volunteer work days; 3) Internships (formal and informal) 4) Community workshops 5) Service-learning PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
1) 100 college students learned how to grow their own food while supporting efforts to raise food for local families in needs; 2) Over 5000 lbs. of produce was grown and distributed by students to local low-income families through Campus Kitchen and NE Georgia Food Bank; 3) 90 middle school students taught how to grow vegetables; 4) 25 college students grew their own vegetable gardens to feed themselves and their families; 5) Two refugee families (Myanmar) were trained to grow vegetables in Georgia; 6) 10 low-income families received produce from the student farm at 1/2 cost; 7) 40 low-income families received fresh produce/prepared food from the student farm every week.
Publications
- Berle, D. 2012. Growing a student garden: An integrated approach to teaching, service learning and student recruitment. Proceedings NACTA Conf., River Fall, WI.
- Miller, S.E., J.S. Lee, D. Berle. 2012. Community engagement from the ground up: An interdisciplinary service-learning after-school garden program. J. of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development. 2:3, pp. 1-15.
- Ladd, Taylor, S.K. Lee, D. Berle. Community Gardens as a Sign of Underserved Park Systems (paper). Proceedings EDRA43: Emergent Placemaking. Seattle, WA. May 2012.
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Progress 08/15/10 to 08/14/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: A university committee was formed to oversee the Local Foods Certificate approval process. The committee is comprised of faculty from Anthropology, Geography, Landscape Architecture, Foods and Nutrition, Consumer Economics, Horticulture, Plant Pathology, History and Biological Engineering. A proposal was developed and moved through the university approval process, and finally approved in late April. A website describing the certificate and course requirements was created (http://ugalocalfoodsystems.uga.edu/Uga_Local_Foods_Certificate) , providing an on-line application for students to fill out. A 1-acre demonstration garden was established to provide opportunities for teaching and for university students to run a cooperative CSA- called UGArden. The garden has been very successful and attracted much attention. Students plan and manage the garden, providing most of the harvest to another student-run organization called Campus Kitchen, who distribute food and meals through a program managed by the Athens Council on Aging called Seniors Raising Children. The garden is currently used regularly by three different classes, two of which are freshman seminars, one of which is a new course developed as a result of the certificate titled "Sustainable Community Food Production" and serves as a core class in the certificate. The UGArden site has hosted a series of workshops held for local teachers, agri-science teachers and students on how to build raised beds for community gardens. 1) LFS Certificate Courses: One new course was created specifically for the certificate program; 3 courses received mini-grant funds to incorporate a service-learning component into an existing course that will become part of the certificate course options. 2) The student garden (UGArden): A 1- acre organic garden was established, with over 400 student/faculty members on the mailing list and over 30 active students. Garden is now fully operational, with regular rotation and cover crop program. Additions to the site have included a solar greenhouse housing a tilapia/vegetable production system as a demonstration of small scale aquaponics; a graduate research project on vertical garden walls; a wood reclamation project to collect and re-use wood from university construction projects for construction of raised beds, compost bins and storage shed for local community garden projects; and a demonstration beehive; a student-managed compost program utilizing compost materials from local stores and a bakery. 3) Certificate enrollment:Currently 10 students are enrolled, but this is due to the late season approval of the certificate and should increase markedly when more students are aware of the certificate. PARTICIPANTS: Individuals David Berle served as certificate coordinator and, with the help of the certificate committee obtained university approval for the certificate in Local Food systems. Mr. Berle also served as the club advisor to the student group, UGArden. Hilda Kurtz provided support for certificate approval from the Franklin College and oversaw the development of a flyer promoting the certificate program. She also developed a course to be one of the required LFS certificate courses. Shannon Wilder reviewed applications for the in-grant program to develop courses in support of the certificate. She also worked with the student group Campus Kitchen to help them establish a program to collect and distribute food through a program called Grandparents Raising Grandchildren. Susan Varlamoff assisted with publicity of local food issues as well as worked with several partner agencies in developing local food projects in the Atlanta area. Jung Sun Lee and Shari Miller developed a course where students (one from horticulture, dietetics, and social work) are teamed to teach an after school garden-nutrition program at the local schools. Partner Organizations Athens-Clarke County School District- after school garden-nutrition program at Title I schools; Athens Land Trust- Athens Community Garden Network serving low-income families; Keep Athens-Clarke County Beautiful- School Garden Committee to coordinate school garden activities; Alps Road Elementary School- "Can of Tomatoes" providing materials to grow tomato plants in a planter for 20 families; UGArden student organization- manage 1-acre demonstration sustainable garden; Campus Kitchen student organization to provide surplus produce to 34 families on an ongoing basis; REAL Food student organization- series of events on local food issues; What Ever it Takes-Athens- plan for food/nutrition related projects for the future Training or professional development Raised bed construction workshops held for local teachers, students, graduate students and community volunteers (15 workshops); Professional in-service training for agri-science teachers (3 workshops) Community garden layout and construction offered to two student groups; Summer internship opportunities for undergraduate students TARGET AUDIENCES: University of Georgia undergraduate students Low income families in Georgia (locally in Clarke County); Local agencies and organizations with an interest in local foods; University student service clubs and other local volunteers. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: One major change in the project was the delay to get the Certificate in Local Food Systems approved at the university level. Because the certificate involves so many different departments and colleges on campus, it was not officially approved until he end of the academic school year in April 2011. This caused a significant delay in when the certificate could be announced, when faculty could be solicited to develop courses specifically for the certificate and when we could announce and award funds from the mini-grant program to support the creation of new courses. In response to this delay, 3 faculty were recruited to develop new courses through a university-wide announcement and funds awards in at the beginning of the Fall 2011 semester. To avoid such delays in the future, the announcement and recruitment of faculty to develop new courses will be handled on a rolling basis and be more in tune with the academic calendar. The delay in certificate approval also affected student recruitment as the certificate could not be promoted in time for fall advisement (held in March). However, recruitment was stepped once the certificate was approved and there are currently 10 students enrolled in the program, with many more expressing interest.
Impacts
6 students completed an 11-week course in sustainable food production where they raised their own vegetable garden, learned how to manage their bee hive and care for their tilapia aquaponics project; 25 UGArden student club members learned how to raise a vegetable garden, while providing food for the local Food Bank and Campus Kitchen program; 30 teachers learned to construct raised garden beds and built one for their school; 60 different students learned to build raised garden beds and constructed 20 beds distributed to local community gardens; 16 students learned how to work with children, teaching them about gardens, nutrition and family; 30 students learned to harvest and prepare food for 34 families as part of a regular food delivery program- Campus Kitchen.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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