Service Learning Number 3

Hey everyone! I feel like it’s been a while since the last time I posted anything. Today I’m excited to tell you that I finally got a chance to help out at Meals on Wheels right here in Asheville. With my school and work schedules the way they are I didn’t think I was going to be able to get over there but turns out Tuesday mornings is where I can make it happen. I want to give you a little background though into why I chose to help at Meals on Wheels.

I have some fond memories of when I was younger and driving around with my grandpa making deliveries for meals on wheels. I remember the excitement in their eyes when they opened the door to me carrying a nice big box of food to help hold them over for the next week or so. It was a great way to give back to the community that gave me so much growing up. A part of me believes that I left that area better than it was and I’m hoping to do the same with Asheville. This doesn’t mean I’m saying Asheville is a bad place by any means but it doesn’t hurt to try to improve wherever I am.

So today I actually got to help out in the kitchen which is something I never got to do before. I worked with three other guys who have been at MoW for over a decade. I could tell that they smelled the fresh meat. They gave me the once-over to make sure I was competent enough to take instructions. I got into the groove of things and eventually ended up making over 400 pudding and cranberry cups. You could call us the snack pack factory. 

This is going to sound a little redundant if you’ve read my previous posts on service learning but I learned about how much work and the amount of people that goes into making food available for more people in any given area. While I was just working with a few other people there was at least a couple dozen more running routes and organizing the food for logistical support. It was really amazing to see everyone working together. It showed me that Asheville really does care about each other because all of these people are volunteers. I want to help there as much as I can so I will definitely be showing up Tuesday mornings with how much schedule is right now.

Grow Some Stuff

Ron Finley gave a great TED talk where he talks about how he is making a difference in his community. I think it's awesome that he's turning unsightly and unused areas into flourishing gardens where people can help each other grow their own food. I lived in Detroit up until I was 20 and never saw anyone doing this with the abandoned lots and overgrown parkways. I see it in my imagination how amazing it could look if everyone came together to make something like that happen. This is only two cities, imagine if every city caught on and began cultivating unused plots of land to help feed the people of the surrounding area. This is a huge movement that could change the way the world looks at food. People would come closer to their produce and have a healthier diet by eating fresh fruits and vegetables.

The article about biotech not being key to solving the world's food security issue brings up both the problem and the possible solution. There is plenty of food in the world that can feed most people but the problem is what we're doing with that food before it's used to become our food. Like the author said about the way crops are used to grow animals so we can eat them, I think we could use that food instead to feed people and let the animals do what they need to do naturally. This means getting the animals out of factories and allowing them to forage for themselves instead of wasting our own resources on them.

Another article on organic food supporting the world brings up a few key points. The amount of calories people consume needs to be evaluated. If people took the time to look at the food they consume and consciously think,"Does my body really need all this food right now?", then there would be more food to go around. There is a growing trend of over-sized meal plans that is obviously leading to weight and other health issues. Sure we can keep blaming industries for producing this stuff but without the demand there wouldn't be supply. Of course there is a constant supply so at first there would end up being a surplus but eventually those corporations won't have a leg to stand on if people stop purchasing their goods. As consumers we need to take a step back and look at the choices we make and how making a change in those choices can make a change in our life.

Animal, Vegetable, Miserable

Gary Steiner gives some very hard challenges that vegans face in his essay “Animal, Vegetable, Miserable.” It’s hard to believe that in the 15 years he has been a vegan he has only made 5 other friends that are vegan. It takes a very dedicated and unwavering person to stand by their beliefs while they lose friends and alienate themselves. He is obviously very passionate about being vegan but he does not seem very happy. I think he is talking about himself in the title when he mentions miserable.  To me life is about the pursuit of happiness. I think we all need something to be compassionate about and fight for, but what if that thing we are so focused on standing up for is the only thing we have a connection with anymore? I understand that vegans have an issue with using animals as a support system to live when they have obviously proved there are ways around it. I don’t think there needs to be such an extreme point of view that makes someone feel they can’t even eat around other people. I’m still new to the vegan diet and everything that does or doesn’t come along with it. I think that vegans want what most people who are aware of where their food comes from want, and that is for more humane ways of obtaining food or alternatives for animal products. There is common ground here. Steiner argues that as humans we feel that we are more superior to non-human animals due to our egocentric and anthropocentric views. For me this seems like a no-brainer. I’ve always been taught about food chains and unless there is a T-Rex walking around somewhere that I don’t know about this means that humans are the top. We’ve evolved and developed into the most intelligent and awesome lifeform on this planet. Part of that is because we survived by killing and scavenging anything that stood in our way. I’m thankful for everything my ancestors have done to get me where I am today. Sure there are problems with how we mass produce our food. That doesn’t mean we need to take a stand that is so extreme it alienate ourselves from our own species. Instead of looking at ways we are different we need to come together and look at how we are the same. That’s when I feel we can actually start making a difference.

Service Learning Post #2

Finally we have some nice weather after the stormy weekend and pretty much all last week. The weather was perfect while a dozen or so UNCA students helped harvest and work on the Lord's Acre. This was my third time time out there and this time I got to do even more than the last couple times. We separated cloves of garlic for seed harvesting, which is way harder than it sounds. I am a garlic fanatic. I asked Sarah, one of the interns there, if it was possible to grow garlic in my apartment. Possibly on a window sill since that's the only actual sunlit area I could 'plant' something. She suggested it would be better if I grew herbs instead because garlic has long roots which would take up my whole window almost.

Academically there are social and agricultural lessons to learn at the Lord's Acre that can't be pulled from a text. There are so many different ways to grow food in the demo garden. From growing straight out of hay bails to using the natural lay of the land to get the most out of rainfall. From the picture above you can just see how amazing the garden looks with the help of volunteers from all over the community.

Getting to interact with other students outside of school isn't something I get to do much with my busy schedule. It was awesome to be able to sit around and get to know more about some of the students while helping out at the same time. I learned a lot about the way certain plants are grown, and actually getting to see the man-power that goes into cultivating those amazing crops was enlightening. I always knew it took a lot of work but getting to see it first hand solidified it.

There's always room for improvement no matter where we go. Someone is always in need of help. I will strive to continue helping my community wherever I live. I won't always be here in Asheville but at least when I leave here I'll know that I helped contribute to make it a better place than it already was when I first came here.