Emilia Wojcik
Second-year, Psychobiology
Farm Fest and Sustainable Agriculture!
Students for Sustainable Agriculture is a club on campus that seeks ways to learn about perpetuating sustainable agriculture and learning about feasible healthy living. We have been visiting local farms, establishing relationships with the earth, transplanting in the greenhouse, working in the garden, attending Farmer’s Market each week and preparing for an exciting event called Farm Fest.
The club is full of wonderful people, who just want to make the world a better place. I visited a Students for Sustainable Agriculture meeting last year with a vague idea of what they stood for, and soon my interest grew exponentially. I have learned so much about the planet, as well as how to improve it. The club truly has the best interest of the planet, people, and animals. Just from a year of being with the club I learned about climate change (Yes, it does exist.), compost, inconvenience of plastic bottles, how to grow my own food, and much more! I grew up living in Queens, so I wasn’t taught about composting, the impact of plastic, or climate change too much. Students for Sustainable Agriculture gave me an opportunity to expand my knowledge about the environment, and I’m very grateful for all that I have learned from my peers, as well as mentors.
One of my favorite activities to do for the club is the garden and greenhouse workdays. Now that spring has finally arrived, we are able to do them each week. So far we have been mulching and building around the beds. Soon we will transplant. Greenhouse days involve learning how to seed, germinate, and transplant veggies. So far, we have grown onions, peppers, watermelons, kale, and spinach. My experience at the garden work days is always happy and fun.
This make me more confident in my abilities to produce food on my own and feel more independent. In the future I want to have my own garden, so these work days help out a lot! Any student can come, join, and help us.
We have been trying to situate a fence in the garden. It would beneficial utility, because it would keep critters out and maintain the status of the plants.
An additional part of the club that I really love is the Zine Crew! We meet up to make zines about sustainability, garden work, and write ecofriendly stories. Some of us like to add our own agenda, such as feminism or about their political ideals, which adds a bunch of creativity. Our first zines will be shown at Farm Fest.
Speaking of, Farm Fest is coming up this Friday on April 22! The event celebrates Earth Day and will be on the Old Main Quad from 12pm to 7pm. There will be multiple vendors, clubs, and activities. Some of the many fun activities will be mural painting, natural tie dyeing, face painting, and yoga. The vendors present will be selling delicious food and drinks. The clubs that will be attending the event are Printmaking Club, Outing Club, Tea Club, Recycling Club, NYPIRG, Oxfam, Ceramics, Sculpture, Frack Action, Eco Reps, and Global Medical Brigades. All these multiple happenings at Farm Fest will be accompanied with live acoustic music! Sounds like a fun party if you ask me. So come on down and have some fun with us and express the love you have for the Earth on the mural that is waiting to be painted.
The club meets weekly at 7pm in the Honors Center to discuss topics such as garden workdays, greenhouse days, farm visits, internships, and zine meetings. Hope to see you there!
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