Kathleen’s Questions
Hi everyone,
I’m just checking in now, so I’m sorry to be quite late to posting this information. As a new graduate student I’m in a slightly different place than many people in our group. I’ll do my best to answer Kathleen’s questions.
- Motivation
Like many in our group who have posted so far, I came to issues of food from a mix of personal and professional motivations. When I first moved to New York City and was living in the Bronx, I had a hard time finding healthy affordable food. As a vegetarian, my options were even more limited. A friend of mine invited me to be part of her mixed-income Community Supported Agriculture group since my income at the time qualified me for a subsidized share. Through my involvement in the CSA, I began to think more about food access and justice issues in general. I also became more educated about our current food system and this awareness provided a new frame for understanding my own family’s relationship to agriculture and food. My subsequent work in the Parks Department connected me to a number of community activists, many who were eager to use their parks as places where food issues could be addressed. Food distribution was a central feature in many community events designed to bring neighbors together to reclaim public space and counteract negative activities like drug abuse and crime. Furthermore, I had a number of municipal colleagues equally passionate about these issues who were happy to find ways for community activists to creatively use the parks to improve their quality of life. As a student of Landscape Architecture, I look forward to exploring this issue further through public scholarship around community gardens and parks.
- Expectations, engagement, and implications
As for my own experience as a student, I am looking forward to classes that involve hands-on partnership with Syracuse community groups. Currently my studies are focused on skill-building around basic drafting and design. Outside of classes, I’ve been looking into volunteer opportunities. I recently spent a Saturday preparing a space for a public snacking garden organized by a local Syracuse Permaculture group.
It looks like our group members are involved in some great projects.
See you later today,
Catherine
catherine, 
valentine, and 
Brian are discussing. 
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