The students behind a new gardening project at Daytona State College are taking their vegetables from campus to table and in doing so, delivering a little hope along the way.
Last semester, nine students in DSC’s Healthy Roots Nutrition Club started a student-run garden at DSC’s DeLand campus. Their harvest now helps feed students in need through the college’s food pantry.
The idea behind the community garden was to teach students about science and healthy eating while allowing them to give back to the community, DSC nutrition professor Emily Moore said.
To an outsider the garden looks simple, but to the students who tilled its soil, the crops represent hope.
“It began as a project and evolved into something more – something bigger than it was,” said Joe Mantle, 19, a DSC student and one of the garden’s founders. “It’s a learning experience, but it’s rewarding because we are giving back. It just warms my heart.”
Citing the county’s most recent figures on hunger, Moore said that 16 percent of residents have concerns about food or don’t know where their next meal will come from.
DSC counselor Alex Pulido estimated crops from the garden have fed about 10 students so far. The harvest provides students with at least two meals worth of vegetables that many students who use DSC’s food pantry could not otherwise afford, he said.
The garden occupies a small patio behind a DSC classroom. To create it, students built four 4x8-foot wooden planter beds and one 4x4-foot bed in which to grow their crops. Students planted various seeds in February and have harvested herbs, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, kale, broccoli and butter lettuce, Moore said.
Moore, herself a lifelong gardener, said not all students are as enthusiastic about gardening as she is.
“I know how to maintain a garden,” Moore said. “What I need to learn is how to maintain student interest.”
DSC student Ashley Ruiz is studying to become a dietician. While Ruiz knew the value of eating well, she said she didn’t know the first thing about growing the vegetables needed for a healthy diet.
“I hate getting dirty, I hate getting sweaty, and I’ve killed every plant I’ve grown,” Ruiz said.
Now that the harvest has survived, Ruiz said she plans to continue honing her green thumb. She also encouraged people to eat more fresh produce.
“Apples and tomatoes from (big box grocery stores) are picked too early, so you’re not getting the full nutrition value that you would be getting from a garden or a farmers market,” Ruiz said.
Moore said that eventually she would like to add the gardening project to DSC's curriculum. If the garden reaches a point where there's enough food, Moore said she would like to encourage students to donate it to local food pantries.
“That’s my goal," Moore said, "that this connects students with a greater good in their community so that they are able to see how they fit into that big picture and be able to see the impact when they give their time and energy into something they care about.”