Yale students major in going green

With crude oil dangerously approaching $140 per barrel, people are being forced to consider ways to cut costs associated with petroleum. Trading in an SUV for a compact car is no longer enough when the national average price of gasoline is $4.06. It is time to start thinking about the fact that there are so many resources that are not renewable, and the choices humans make have drastic effects on the environment. Sustainable food practices are becoming a widely accepted form of "going green."

Students, faculty and staff at Yale University in New Haven founded the Yale Sustainable Food Project in 2001. The project promotes a healthy ecosystem and brings awareness to the community about significantly decreasing dependence on petroleum by

buying organic and locally. The concept has become so popular that Yale added a sustainable agriculture concentration to the environmental studies major.

"The project started about seven years ago in a class taught by John Wargo, learning about the carcinogenic impact of regularly grown food," said Josh Viertel, one of the two directors of the YSFP. Viertel said that sustainable food is food that doesn't harm the environment through use of additives and pesticides, the people who grow it, or the people who eat it. "Sustainable practice is a practice you can do without degrading the environment," said Melina Shannon-DiPietro, director of the project. "It's providing a soil that's a foundation for growth with lots of nutrients and

vitamins."

Yale created a one-acre farm on Edwards Street in New Haven in 2003. The farm models sustainable practices and hosts many community events. Every summer six interns are chosen to work on the farm. "We wanted a place where students could learn about land and food in a really hands-on way," said Viertel. "The idea behind it is that people make good decisions as community members and environmental stewards if they have a connection to a place. The best way to get a connection to a place is by growing food in the place where they live."

Shannon-DiPietro agrees that buying locally is the best way to support the farmers, help the environment, and create a connection with the community. "There's culture," said DiPietro. "Food brings us together. When you purchase food from the farmer's market, it connects you to the land around you."

DiPietro said she doesn't recommend buying from the local grocery store because it is nearly impossible to find out how the products are cultivated.

"Go to the farmer's market because you can ask questions about the growth process," said DiPietro. "Food prices are getting very high, and part of it is the use of diesel fuel — shipping and additive pesticides. If you're buying organic or local, you cut fuel out twice."

The Yale Farm practices what they preach. The farm's interns bring the fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers that are grown on the farm to the CitySeed farmer's market in New Haven's Wooster Square for sale. The profits made at the farmer's market go to farm maintenance. Last year, the students brought in $16,000.

Charles Zhu and Charles Alvarez, both interns on the Yale farm, were at CitySeed with freshly picked products on Saturday. The students were peddling savory, mint, garlic scapes, flower bouquets, turnips, greens and tomato plants. Zhu, an environmental studies major, said that he cultivated a late interest in environmental preservation.

"The global warming issues stimulated my interest in the environment," said Zhu. Alvarez, from Queens, N.Y., said that he didn't really have the opportunity to have a garden in such an urban environment. Alvarez, an East Asian studies major, worked with CitySeed two summers ago. Alvarez has also visited Japan, where he was able to get his hands dirty as his housemother worked part-time as a farmer. Sophie Wolfram is a history major entering her junior year at Yale. Wolfram said she wanted to work on the farm because she really enjoys outdoor work and is very interested in environmental history. Kris Baxivanos, also entering her junior year, is a women's studies major. Baxivanos comes from a farming community in rural Maryland and said she studies food within her major.

The university gets all majors and the community involved in the YSFP. Viertel said that Yale has hosted about 60 events in the past year including guest speakers, culinary workshops and film screenings with a turnout of roughly 2,500 people. Every third Sunday of the month is a community workday when Yale encourages community members to lend a hand to the farm. On community workdays, the public can visit and share in the daily activities that the interns experience. Also, a big hit among visitors is the fresh pizza that is cooked on the farm's wood-burning hearth oven. Yale started serving a sustainable menu in 2002 in the Berkeley dining hall. Today, all dining halls offer the same sustainable menu. It is the university's belief that buying sustainable, local products is best for the well-being of the consumer and the farmer. Buying local stimulates the local farming economy and ensures that the food consumed from the sustainable menu is in season and at its best quality.

Other colleges are taking note of Yale's practices. The University of California at Santa Cruz has a 2-acre garden and 25-acre farm used in conjunction with the university's Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems. In New York, Ithaca College has started a sustainable, healthy and fresh menu in one of the dining halls. Brown University in Providence, R.I., has also followed suit and created a farm to integrate local food and sustainable agriculture into student life.

Viertel said the movement for sustainable practices on campus in this region is particularly large. "There are about 45 schools and 175 student leaders pushing for this in the Northeast," said Viertel.