Generative Gardening

Hello Everyone,

Welcome! In case you have not heard me talk about this project or have not read the About Section, let me briefly introduce myself. My name is Andrew Bostick, and I am a rising Junior at Haverford College. Over the past few years, I have become fascinated by agricultural sustainability, gardening, and food ethics — you know, the so-called “Food Revolution” of my generation. Since, I have been lucky to have received two grants from the Center for Peace and Global Citizenship, an organization at Haverford that funds social-justice-related projects.

Last summer, I designed an internship that sought to compare French organic farming techniques with American industrial ones. You can check out the blog here.  In other words, I spent eight weeks living with French farmers, growing food, discussing food issues, and thinking about environmentalism through an agricultural lens. The overarching lesson that I took from the summer was that consumer choice represents  the potential for social change. By buying the right types of food and sponsoring the right kinds of farmers, we can push agriculture in a more sustainable direction.

This summer, I am pursuing the creation of a campus farm at Haverford,  motivated in no small way by the lessons learned in France. With the help of several other students who are living on campus, we have created a small garden that manifests our commitment to creating an agricultural space on campus. At the same time, I am personally researching and writing a proposal for the College to secure long-term funding for such a farm. Click these links to learn more about other successful programs: the Yale Sustainable Food Project, the Dickinson College Farm, and the Good Food Project at Swarthmore.

Later this week, I will go into more depth about this summer’s project and my vision for this blog. For the moment, however, I hope you are all enjoying this beautiful June weather (in Philadelphia, at least). Let me know if you have any question/concerns/suggestions.

Best,

Andrew

Andrew Bostick ’12 will be working with the Center for Peace and Global Citizenship on two agricultural projects over the summer: (1) the maintenance of a student garden at Haverford and (2) the writing of a proposal to make the garden a permanent program. Learn more >

If you are at all interested in agricultural sustainability, in gardening, or in helping me convince the College that we need a campus farm, stay tuned for an exciting (okay, maybe not the best word to describe a garden…) summer blog.