"...it's a great way to ground yourself in the IV space...and to empower students to take back their food sovereignty"
- Danielle, third year
What better way to get involved in your community than giving back? Helping each other is the heart of the IV experience. When you volunteer at the gardens, you're cultivating resources for yourself, your neighbors, local animals, and the environment. Pretty sick right?
Saturday morning volunteering is held by the Edible Campus Program. The program was founded in 2015 as a way to help with local food insecurity by using unused space for growing food. Their first project was planting produce trees in Storke Plaza, which are still there to this day. In fact, those trees help supply the AS Food Bank, Food Not Bombs, and more in addition to the newer projects. The program has seriously flourished since it's birth thanks to student and faculty volunteers, so get out there with some friends and have fun giving back!
If getting your hands dirty isn't quite your style, there's plenty of other ways to help with food insecurity in the area. For example, you can work for the AS Food Bank. Some positions include transporting products, operating the food bank at the UCen, and helping sign people up. As a UCSB student, you should totally take advantage of the food bank and other resources as well! The Edible Campus Program is here to help everyone–no one's needs are too small.
UCSB Dictionary:
IV - acronym for Isla Vista
AS - acronym for Associated Students
UCen - short for University Center
References:
“Edible Campus Program | UCSB Sustainability.” Ucsb.edu, 2017, sustainability.ucsb.edu/ediblecampus.