Charlotte Magazine: The Farm at 51¹ÙÍø May be the School’s Most Powerful Classroom
September 3, 2018
The September 2018 issue of "Charlotte Magazine" profiles The Farm at 51¹ÙÍø, saying that the next tools in higher ed might include a shovel.
Since the college purchased the land in 2008, The Farm has grown into a haven for students who long to get dirt under their fingernails and a source of fresh, local produce to campus and community.
But most important, The Farm opens the door to questions that transcend disciplines.
"Socially inclined students grow curious about the socio-economic, geographic and racial privilege involved in food systems: who has access to healthy food, and who defines what healthy food even is," author Jen McGivney writes. "Environmentally inclined students gravitate toward sustainability issues, such as the impact of climate change and the loss of topsoil."
"Students think they get to work at the farm, but in turn what they end up learning is all of these other broader sustainability issues," says former environmental studies professor Amanda Green '05 whose class required students to work on the farm. "Our farm is not going to solve world problems, but it is going to teach them to act -- to do a small part and think more broadly about all of these issues. It just makes it real."
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