Lessons from NYC: The Last Few Days

Journal entries chronicling my reflections & recollections from my class at Barnard College which examines the food system of NYC and the broader region through a sustainable farming, policy-forward lens.

The bittersweet end. A perpetual date looming in the air, a seemingly mystical day that was never supposed to come. Untill now.

Nevertheless, I'm beyond greatful for my time spent in the city (yes, I now know "the city refers to Manhattan-- I used it correctly!). This past week, we mainly worked on our final class papers, but also took our weekly ventures out to explore a bit farther for the last time together. Most notably, our team took a trip to Stone Barns Farm in Upstate New York, where we enjoyed a guided farm tour as well as some delicious lunch.

"This past week has been action-packed and felt very conclusionary of the course. 

First off, our soil experiment with the pH levels of different types of soils not only aided our understanding of how external factors, such as sunlight, can drastically change the contents of the soil, but also helped give the team the crucial context to the soils we encountered in other instances. For example, when we visited Stone Barns yesterday, our tour guide, Carolina, mentioned how certain plants had died or not been successful (such as their banana plant inside the greenhouse). From my former experiences, I could infer that could've been, in part, due to the soil's nutrition.

Which brings me to the following experience-- our group's collective visitation to Stone Barns Farm in Upstate NYC. I felt extremely enlightened by how this large-scale model was high quality, embraced a self-sustaining economic model, and was able to support so many conservation efforts in the realm of academia. The fact that the farming team actively engages in academic research and partners with local schools and universities gives me hope for future research in the agricultural field. By embracing open-source findings and publicized research, it became apparent that Stone Barns is apart of a broader movement to fight against hyper-competitiveness in America's market and strive toward a general food system that prioritizes healthy, nutritious, equitable, sustainable, low cost, fair food for all parties involved.

I felt so inspired. In fact, I started researching the Stone Barns non profit origins and even hope to build a similar model on the West Coast when I have the means to do so (super long term, I know). In the meantime, I was told by Caolina I could reach out to [my teachers] if I had any questions. I emailed my local community garden yesterday to propose a formal, open-source research initiative yesterday. 

I hope to be involved in these initiatives for the rest of my life, and remain curious about the function of our food system."

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

•