IN THIS ISSUE:
*Events
*Volunteer Opportunities
*Internships, Jobs, and Beyond...
*In the Spotlight: Students, Community Fight Food Desert
EVENTS
Community Organizing 101
Sunday, October 18
4:00pm – 6:00pm
Harper, Room 150
Southside Solidarity Network presents part 1 of a three part introduction to community organizing in the tradition of Saul Alinsky and Barack Obama. This week’s session is entitled “Power.” Dinner is also provided. Email mhopwood@uchicago.edu to register or visit southsidesn.wordpress.com for more information.
Summer Links Information Session
Thursday, October 22
6:00pm
Classics, Room 110
Summer Links is a paid internship program open to returning College and graduate students in which students work Monday through Thursday at non-profit and community-based organizations, dedicating Fridays and Wednesday evenings to trainings about Chicago and social justice issues. For more information, contact Trudi Langendorf at trudi@uchicago.edu or (773) 834-2699.
Human Rights Minor Information Session
Friday, October 23
12:00pm – 1:30pm
Social Science Tea Room, Room 201
In 2008-09, the College Council approved a Minor in Human Rights. Eight students in the class of 2009 graduated with a Human Rights minor, with majors ranging from Political Science to Biology. Are you interested in learning more about the Human Rights Minor? Susan Gzesh, Senior Lecturer in the College Executive Director of the Human Rights Program, will discuss possibilities within the minor.
Public and Social Service Program Kick-Off
Wednesday, October 28
6:00pm
Ida Noyes Hall
Kick-off a full year of programming focused on public and social service careers. Learn about the 2009-10 Public and Social Service Programs and network with alumni in the non-profit and public sectors. With questions, contact Dillan Siegler at dsiegler@uchicago.edu.
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
Volunteer for the Chicago Academic Games League (CAGL), a math competition for middle school youth on the University of Chicago campus once a month. Teach the students once a week for 1-2 hours and be there to support them at the tournaments. Training starts next week. For more information contact Boryana at boryanalevterova@gmail.com
Help maintain Jackson Park's restored prairies on the final Jackson Park Volunteer Work Day of the 2009 year. Groups will meet at the Darrow Bridge side of the Museum of Science and Industry. For more information, contact Ross Peterson at 773-486-0505.
Training-to-Transition needs people to conduct mock interviews as well as panelists in the areas of Creative Art & Culinary & Entrepreneurial, Medical, Health & Fitness, and Construction. For more information contact Raven Moore at rmoore@umojacorporation.org
National Student Campaign Against Hunger and Homelessness is launching Resolve to Fight Poverty at the Resolve 2009 conference at Loyola University in Chicago on November 5-8, 2009. To register, visit http://www.studentsagainsthunger.org/conference
INTERNSHIPS, JOBS, AND BEYOND...
Due: October 23 at 5:00pm
The LGBTQ Programming Office seeks students to be on the Student Advisory Board. The Board informs the LGBTQ Programming Office Director and the university administration of the needs of LGBTQ students and articulates the problems and issues currently facing LGBTQ students. To be considered for the board, fill out this application and email it to lgbtqpo@uchicago.edu.
Students Serve, a national 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, is accepting applications for service project grants. Any college student with an idea about how to address a local, national, or global problem can submit the online application at StudentsServe.org.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Students, Community Fight Food Desert
Anne Groggel, Staff Writer
A report given in June 2009 by the United States Department of Agriculture cites that people living in low-income areas have limited access to healthier food choices in comparison to affluent areas. That means that it is not simply what one eats but where one lives that dictates diet-related health.
Research continues to come out on the link between areas of ‘food desert’ where residents lack access to nutritious food and poor-diet related health diseases. If ‘food deserts’ go unchecked Chicago will feel the ill-effects on public health especially during this time of economic hardship. Efforts of active resistance to this residential food imbalance are taking place nationally and within our community.
Strolling through the stands taking in the piles of fresh crisp apples and ornately grouped squash one experiences the 61st street Farmers Market's treasure trove of food. Hosted by the Experimental Station, the Farmers Market lasts from nine a.m to two p.m every Saturday. Besides the Market offering produce from an array of vendors, the weekly event also features chef demonstrations. As a nonprofit established in 2002, the Experimental Station puts on the weekly Farmers Market in order to address an ever-pressing need to provide fresh fruits and vegetables to communities like Woodlawn that suffer from a lack of supermarkets which offer wholesome foods.
The Farmers Market is just one of many initiatives undertaken by the Experimental Station. Their projects range from the Blackstone Bicycle Works which uses a retail bike shop to provide education and recreational opportunities for kids, to the Backstory Cafe, a women-owned coffee house that provides a social space for members of the community. Other programs include the Earn-a-Bike Program that allows local kids to rebuild bikes and after twenty-five hours of service they select their own refurnished bike and helmet. The Experimental Station also organizes the Invisible Institute Program, an organization of journalists who provide coverage to issues that usually go under the radar of social consciousness.
The Farmers Market seeks to elevate the Woodlawn neighborhood from a "food desert" with little access to fresh nutritious food. The market also provides space where community members intermingle and construct programming that promotes nutritional health. Participation from Chicago students and alumni along with community members helps to create this community effort to combat the lack of nutritious foods by the disadvantaged. Along with the market itself the Experimental Station offers a number of nutritional workshops and food-preparation events. This past weekend hosted a chef demo to learn about sustainable seafood and how to prepare it.
The 61st Street Farmers Market aims at providing fresh produce, meats, dairy products, and other amenities like soap, which from personal testing, smelled heavenly. Kendra Rutgers, a recent graduate from the Masters of Arts Program in the Humanities (MAPH) is currently volunteering with the experimental station.
"I've always appreciated farmers market but I'm really into the community orientation of this market. Because food stamp programs and the community doesn't have access to fresh food the produce this organization provides is so important” said Rutgers.
More than offering stalls bursting with local vegetables, fruit, meats, cheeses, and baked goods the Farmers Market offers a social space for the entire community to engage in dialogue about healthy eating. Students and Woodlawn residents unite toward a common goal of eradicating ‘food deserts’ and thereby helping curb diet-related heath complications.
Kate Miller, the volunteer coordinator for the Farmer's Market expressed that "Alumni who have settled in Woodlawn and have been volunteers enjoyed the participation and feeling like they are a part of creating services in their neighborhood.”
For students concerned with the time commitment of volunteering can still become involved. Miller explains that even helping to set up or take down for market day would be especially helpful. Set up for the market begins at 6:30am and lasts until 8:00am and breaking down the market begins at 2:00pm and lasts until 3:00pm.
If you can't make time to volunteer your services with this insightful nonprofit then take time on a Saturday morning to sample fine cheeses or perhaps eat a Nutella crepe. Such activities are an easy way to support local producers and help our community go green at the same time. If the Autumn cold is too much for you on a Saturday morning just wait for November 7th when the Farmer's Market moves inside the Experimental Station. If you're dreading your next trip to the grocery store take time to consider what you could purchase at the market which helps to implement healthy food into the community while providing business for local farmers. If still questioning the importance of accessibility to healthy food students should make time to watch the film 'Food, Inc.' shown by Doc Films on October 16th and 18th.
Whether helping set up stands or choosing to buy your apples at the market instead of the grocery story every student can make a difference in fighting the food imbalance in our community and Chicago at large.
If you're at all interested in getting involved with the Farmers Market email m-kate@att.net.
The University Community Service Center (UCSC) fosters the development of civic-minded students by providing substantive community service opportunities through community partnerships based on mutual trust and respect. If you have questions - how to get involved as a student or how to connect to students as a community organization - please contact us.
University Community Service Center
5525 S. Ellis Ave., Suite 160
Chicago IL, 60637
Tel: 773.753.4483
Fax: 773.834.1160
ucsc.uchicago.edu
