DAY 3: Wednesday, October 20th
Today, we started by volunteering at Arm in Arm, a Mercer County nonprofit that helps local communities with food, job, and financial support. Our group split in two, with half of us at the Hudson Street location and half of us at the East Hanover street location. The different branches have alternating preparation and opening schedules, so the two groups helped out with parts of the organization’s operation.
The Hudson Street location is open to serve its clients on Mondays and Wednesdays from 9:30am to 1pm. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, this branch mainly manages deliveries and bagging in preparation for its open hours. When we arrived at 10am, we helped hand out bags of produce, nonperishable goods, and chicken to clients that came by the outside of the location. In a normal year, each client would be registered and come in through the front, then snaking through shelves inside the building. Because of the pandemic, this Arm in Arm branch shifted their operation outside, and people have not needed to be registered--a process that involves collecting a household’s ID and proof of address for data purposes, not screening. An unexpected benefit came from this, however — food pick-up became more streamlined for the community members, and the number of families that one location of Arms in Arms can serve in a day rose from 60-80 families to 180 families per day. We learned that Arm in Arm is going to start registering its clients again in November and December so that they can better help their client demographics and have data when applying for grants. A woman from the United Way stood next to the line for food and offered screening for financial assistance and health benefits.
The East Hanover Street location operates on the opposite schedule, where it opens on Tuesdays and Thursdays and prepares the food on Mondays and Wednesdays. Fridays are often when the fresh produce is delivered, so community members can receive lettuce and onions on the last day of the week. We visited this location on an off-day, so we helped relocate food to make space for future shipments and package food in an assembly-line fashion; one person opened the plastics bags while it gets passed along, adding onions, lettuce, and butter along the way until the bags are tied up and stored in the refrigerator room for the next day.
The East Hanover Street location operates on the opposite schedule, where it opens on Tuesdays and Thursdays and prepares the food on Mondays and Wednesdays. Fridays are often when the fresh produce is delivered, so community members can receive lettuce and onions on the last day of the week. We visited this location on an off-day, so we helped relocate food to make space for future shipments and package food in an assembly-line fashion; one person opened the plastics bags while it gets passed along, adding onions, lettuce, and butter along the way until the bags are tied up and stored in the refrigerator room for the next day.
Our last event of the breakout trip was to cook our own meal, so we stopped at the Trenton Farmer’s market to collect the ingredients we needed for dinner. We had a great vegan lunch inside of the market at Lady and the Shallot! Our plan for dinner was to make healthy, colorful breakfast food, so we picked up some seasonal peppers, eggplants, and cheese to make a quiche. We also got pears and berries to put on fresh pancakes!
During our farmers market tour, we spoke to a local farmer from Hamilton who gave us tips on how to determine when an apple is ripe (if it falls off easily while you’re picking neighboring ones), and the delicious dishes that can be made with the vegetables she sells (stir-fry, stuffed eggplants). After the market, we walked over to Halo Farms next door and got local milk, cheese, and ice cream.
To cook our final meal, we divided up into three teams to focus on each type of food that we wanted to prepare; one group worked on pancakes, another made the quiche, using the leftover vegetables for a stir-fry, and the last made apple crumble using the apples that we picked yesterday.
To cook our final meal, we divided up into three teams to focus on each type of food that we wanted to prepare; one group worked on pancakes, another made the quiche, using the leftover vegetables for a stir-fry, and the last made apple crumble using the apples that we picked yesterday.
The task was a bit more arduous than we originally thought — ten people were a lot to feed, and we had to get creative with our ingredients! It took us close to three hours to prepare the meal, but the end product was incredible! It was so nice to share a meal with this fantastic group and to reflect on both finding all of the ingredients and making the meal together.
The last day of reflections consisted of synthesizing what we learned from each of the community partners we visited over the last three days. We talked about what inspired us and where we hope to go through post-trips with our new awareness and knowledge. As part of the breakout tradition, we mapped out our journey through New Jersey on a map using push-pins and thread. We are so grateful for this week, and we can’t wait to continue to involve ourselves in the community and plan what we can do next.
DAY 2: Tuesday, October 19th
Hello everyone! It’s Stephen and Artemisia! We had a fantastic day and are excited to share it with you.
We started our day talking with Sarah, Sustainability Manager of Campus Dining. We discussed Campus Dining initiatives towards sustainability, how that’s changed over time, and how that’s been impacted by COVID. We also learned about the data the dining halls collect every time you swipe your prox to determine how much food to make, how all the waste collected by university maintenance is reused to make items such as clocks and chairs, and how much thought goes into what food is used in dining halls. There were a lot of interesting elements around what the dining hall does and their sustainability practices that none of us had considered. In particular, Artemisia found the idea of using anaerobic respiration to compost especially interesting. She had always believed that aerobic respiration was the better way to compost as while aerobic respiration produced CO2, anaerobic respiration produced methane gas, which was many times more potent of a greenhouse gas. But through today’s presentation, she found out that the methane that was produced actually came in the form of biogas, which was a useable renewable fuel, and although when burned biogas produces CO2, that CO2 being released was stored in the plants the biogas was made from, unlike fossil fuels where the CO2 has been kept underground for millions of years, so the CO2 byproduct doesn’t further contribute to the increase of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere.
We started our day talking with Sarah, Sustainability Manager of Campus Dining. We discussed Campus Dining initiatives towards sustainability, how that’s changed over time, and how that’s been impacted by COVID. We also learned about the data the dining halls collect every time you swipe your prox to determine how much food to make, how all the waste collected by university maintenance is reused to make items such as clocks and chairs, and how much thought goes into what food is used in dining halls. There were a lot of interesting elements around what the dining hall does and their sustainability practices that none of us had considered. In particular, Artemisia found the idea of using anaerobic respiration to compost especially interesting. She had always believed that aerobic respiration was the better way to compost as while aerobic respiration produced CO2, anaerobic respiration produced methane gas, which was many times more potent of a greenhouse gas. But through today’s presentation, she found out that the methane that was produced actually came in the form of biogas, which was a useable renewable fuel, and although when burned biogas produces CO2, that CO2 being released was stored in the plants the biogas was made from, unlike fossil fuels where the CO2 has been kept underground for millions of years, so the CO2 byproduct doesn’t further contribute to the increase of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere.
After that, we took a trip to Terhune Orchards, where we conveniently ran into the director of the program Pam! We had a really great time talking to Pam about the origins of Terhune Orchards, her motivations behind founding it, and how it works to make such a large dent within the community. Terhune was delivering food to the Homefront nonprofit, community centers, high schools, and local people. We found ourselves very inspired from hearing about Pam’s passion and impact around sustainability and providing food from the community, and she left us with some parting words about organizing initiatives: “If you treat people right they will stick with you, and they will help you work out the kinks.” Pam was kind enough to offer us free apple cider slushies after her talk, which was a nice treat! We also went through their corn maze and found five not so hidden apples!
Lastly, we went to the Terhune Apple Orchard and collected some apples to make into some sort of apple creation. Picking and baking something with fruit we collected ourselves connects us back to where our food comes from and puts into perspective the amount of work it takes before fresh produce becomes a product to be consumed on our plates.
All in all, we learned a ton about local and university sustainability efforts as well as the importance of communication and spreading the word, awareness, and knowledge. We hope to use all this information to help us with future sustainability activities and post-trip ideas.
DAY 1: Monday, October 18th
Today was the first day of our Breakout Trip (At Our Table)!
9:30am
Before starting off the day, we met for breakfast at the Wa,
10:00am
then traveled to Trenton by bus.
10:30am
9:30am
Before starting off the day, we met for breakfast at the Wa,
10:00am
then traveled to Trenton by bus.
10:30am
We visited a non-profit organization called ISLES. ISLES was created 40 years ago, and they support the Trenton community in multiple ways, from growing fresh produce to both sell and give to the community, helping families grow their own healthy foods, providing free home inspections to check for lead or other dangers, and hosting an alternative high school for people who may have dropped out of traditional high school. We were shocked to learn that the city of Trenton only has one supermarket, and due to this, many people in the city do not have access to healthy food options. Isles hopes to empower the community to grow their own fruits and vegetables to keep money within the city and provide people with healthier options.
We spent about an hour talking to three representatives from ISLES. They talked to us about how they grow the food, the different missions they have, the inherent systems that have kept Trenton from having more than one supermarket, and the goals they have for the future of their organization. For another hour, we walked around ISLES and took a look at their farm. It was really interesting to see the variety of plants they grew, from asparagus and beans to plants from the Philippines! It was really great learning about how ISLES was created and what they are doing for the community. It helped us gain perspective on how we might like to continue work in hunger and food sustainability back on campus and beyond.
We even got to have some fun by eating fresh hot peppers and looking at the bee farms they are cultivating!
12:30pm
After that, we ate pizza with our new friends from ISLES and Dave (a colleague of Geralyn’s from the Pace Center who brought the pizza!) and talked about where we’re each from and how it’s shaped who we are now. It was nice getting to know each other and the representatives from ISLES more. We also saw Stephen, Mandy, and Kaylin eat jalapeño peppers whole!
We even got to have some fun by eating fresh hot peppers and looking at the bee farms they are cultivating!
12:30pm
After that, we ate pizza with our new friends from ISLES and Dave (a colleague of Geralyn’s from the Pace Center who brought the pizza!) and talked about where we’re each from and how it’s shaped who we are now. It was nice getting to know each other and the representatives from ISLES more. We also saw Stephen, Mandy, and Kaylin eat jalapeño peppers whole!
1:30pm
After lunch, we went on a Trenton walking tour with Dave. We walked through the Trenton downtown area, stopping at various areas including an old hotel and a free clinic. As the state capital, there is a lot of history associated with the town, from how it was a battleground during the revolutionary war to how it was one of the first places where the Declaration of Independence was read! Dave also talked about many traditions in Trenton, including the pork sausage festival and how in one year, there were two! We sat in Mill Hill park for a bit and Dave talked to us about the Mount Laurel Doctrine and its relationship to the many low-income properties in Trenton. In the law, it is required that when building new properties in a town, a certain percentage of them must be affordable housing. However, in the late 1900s, many towns in New Jersey were finding loopholes in the law by building affordable housing in Trenton, and none in their own towns. This has led to some of the disparities in wealth we see today with Trenton in comparison to neighboring towns in New Jersey. Other than learning a bit more about the history and culture in Trenton, we talked about the education system in Trenton. Because it is the state capital and because the tax rate is pretty low in Trenton, schools don’t get a lot of funding. As a result, they often don’t meet the national education standards required and are shut down. This causes more problems for students as now there is overcrowding at the schools that weren’t shut down, along with the already low graduation rates. While there are several challenges the people of Trenton face, there are over 100 nonprofits to try and fill in gaps in the community, just in Trenton alone!
After lunch, we went on a Trenton walking tour with Dave. We walked through the Trenton downtown area, stopping at various areas including an old hotel and a free clinic. As the state capital, there is a lot of history associated with the town, from how it was a battleground during the revolutionary war to how it was one of the first places where the Declaration of Independence was read! Dave also talked about many traditions in Trenton, including the pork sausage festival and how in one year, there were two! We sat in Mill Hill park for a bit and Dave talked to us about the Mount Laurel Doctrine and its relationship to the many low-income properties in Trenton. In the law, it is required that when building new properties in a town, a certain percentage of them must be affordable housing. However, in the late 1900s, many towns in New Jersey were finding loopholes in the law by building affordable housing in Trenton, and none in their own towns. This has led to some of the disparities in wealth we see today with Trenton in comparison to neighboring towns in New Jersey. Other than learning a bit more about the history and culture in Trenton, we talked about the education system in Trenton. Because it is the state capital and because the tax rate is pretty low in Trenton, schools don’t get a lot of funding. As a result, they often don’t meet the national education standards required and are shut down. This causes more problems for students as now there is overcrowding at the schools that weren’t shut down, along with the already low graduation rates. While there are several challenges the people of Trenton face, there are over 100 nonprofits to try and fill in gaps in the community, just in Trenton alone!
Overall, we learned so much more about the town of Trenton and how ISLES has found its place there. We can’t wait to use this knowledge to learn even more about food access and sustainability during the rest of the breakout trip and the peppers we picked in our Wednesday dinner!