Service Learning in the Development of a Local Food Hub
Presentation Format
Poster
Intended Audience
All Audiences
Presentation Description
This paper presents a community development project based in service learning projects between Clemson University and Feed & Seed, a new food hub in Greenville, SC. After summarizing the organization and three past classes, we will describe the applied course we are currently co-teaching. We will discuss pedagogical strategies as well as challenges faced, insights gained, and plans for the future.
Feed & Seed is a food hub that aims to connect local farmers to larger markets while providing opportunities for community involvement, job training, and economic development— especially for those on the margins of society. A food hub aggregates, stores, processes, distributes, and/or markets of local foods. Feed & Seed aims to offer not only fresh food at a centralized marketplace, but also at at distribution locations throughout the region. Through a partnership with the locally owned gas station, Spinx, products will be distributed in their stores, many of which are in areas lacking access to fresh foods.
We will present work by our interdisciplinary group of students from Communication Studies and Architecture at Clemson University. Their project is to design retail spaces and messaging strategies for the first pilot Spinx store, which will include a community garden and updated store design. Students address issues at the site as well as overarching social issues related to the local food system, neighborhood, and cultural history.
The class began with trips to local farms, markets, and Spinx sites to help students understand the concerns of stakeholders. Students met with Feed and Seed Co-founder and CEO, Spinx Chief Marketing Officer, and Spinx Retail Director. Students engaged with community members, history, and dialogues to develop projects for one location’s specific needs and uses. Other Spinx stores have adjacent lots, which could draw on student concepts for community gardens. The garden produce will be available to the surrounding community, creating a connection for community members with food production. With the underlying goals of promoting local food and healthy living, connecting farmers with bigger markets, and getting fresh local food to all individuals—despite social or economic standing—students are working to create a holistic project that involved and activated the public.
From this and earlier classes, we have developed pedagogical strategies, such as spatial awareness and experiential learning. Challenges faced included interdisciplinary and cross-cultural communication, as well as sacrificing course hours to teach research methods. The complexity and rewards of such services learning projects inform our plans for continuing the class in future semesters.
This partnership between Feed & Seed and Clemson allowed the classroom to become a laboratory for creative solutions to community problems. Students gain valuable experience working with real-world issues, managing a client, and designing a project for a user group other than themselves. Feed & Seed gained site and program strategies, giving them a clearer vision before implementing the distribution aspect of the food hub and building the community garden. Also, the organization had the opportunity to use student presentations as a springboard for community involvement.
Location
Embassy Suites Hotel
Start Date
4-13-2016 5:00 PM
End Date
4-13-2016 7:00 PM
Recommended Citation
Hambright-Belue, Sallie and Scott, D. Travers, "Service Learning in the Development of a Local Food Hub" (2016). Gulf South Summit on Service-Learning 2016. 23.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gss/2016/2016/23
Service Learning in the Development of a Local Food Hub
Embassy Suites Hotel
This paper presents a community development project based in service learning projects between Clemson University and Feed & Seed, a new food hub in Greenville, SC. After summarizing the organization and three past classes, we will describe the applied course we are currently co-teaching. We will discuss pedagogical strategies as well as challenges faced, insights gained, and plans for the future.
Feed & Seed is a food hub that aims to connect local farmers to larger markets while providing opportunities for community involvement, job training, and economic development— especially for those on the margins of society. A food hub aggregates, stores, processes, distributes, and/or markets of local foods. Feed & Seed aims to offer not only fresh food at a centralized marketplace, but also at at distribution locations throughout the region. Through a partnership with the locally owned gas station, Spinx, products will be distributed in their stores, many of which are in areas lacking access to fresh foods.
We will present work by our interdisciplinary group of students from Communication Studies and Architecture at Clemson University. Their project is to design retail spaces and messaging strategies for the first pilot Spinx store, which will include a community garden and updated store design. Students address issues at the site as well as overarching social issues related to the local food system, neighborhood, and cultural history.
The class began with trips to local farms, markets, and Spinx sites to help students understand the concerns of stakeholders. Students met with Feed and Seed Co-founder and CEO, Spinx Chief Marketing Officer, and Spinx Retail Director. Students engaged with community members, history, and dialogues to develop projects for one location’s specific needs and uses. Other Spinx stores have adjacent lots, which could draw on student concepts for community gardens. The garden produce will be available to the surrounding community, creating a connection for community members with food production. With the underlying goals of promoting local food and healthy living, connecting farmers with bigger markets, and getting fresh local food to all individuals—despite social or economic standing—students are working to create a holistic project that involved and activated the public.
From this and earlier classes, we have developed pedagogical strategies, such as spatial awareness and experiential learning. Challenges faced included interdisciplinary and cross-cultural communication, as well as sacrificing course hours to teach research methods. The complexity and rewards of such services learning projects inform our plans for continuing the class in future semesters.
This partnership between Feed & Seed and Clemson allowed the classroom to become a laboratory for creative solutions to community problems. Students gain valuable experience working with real-world issues, managing a client, and designing a project for a user group other than themselves. Feed & Seed gained site and program strategies, giving them a clearer vision before implementing the distribution aspect of the food hub and building the community garden. Also, the organization had the opportunity to use student presentations as a springboard for community involvement.
Program Abstract
This paper presents a community development project based in service learning projects between Clemson University and Feed & Seed, a new food hub in Greenville, SC. After summarizing the organization and three past classes, we will describe the applied course we are currently co-teaching. We will discuss pedagogical strategies as well as challenges faced, insights gained, and plans for the future.