Earth Day 2014 at VCU strives to help define sustainability

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Farm to table” is the most direct journey that food can take to your table, straight from a farmer’s hand to yours (hopefully with just a handshake in between).

Food education and sustainable eating habits are just as important as water conservation, electricity reduction and recycling in any sustainability portfolio. That’s why Cameron Carter, instructor of field education in the School of Social Work, and Katherine Vatalaro Hill, assistant director and nutrition services coordinator at  the Wellness Resource Center, have partnered with Origins Farm, the Farmers Market at St. Stephen’s Church, Slow Food RVA and the William Byrd Community House Market to bring posters from the Lexicon of Sustainability to Virginia Commonwealth University’s Earth Day Rams Community Bazaar on Tuesday, April 22, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Plaza Park, behind Hibbs Hall.

The Lexicon of Sustainability is a nonprofit effort to define the terms and principles of sustainability in an easily understandable way.

“’Farm-to-table’ – you might understand it as a concept, but these posters are about understanding how it relates to a sustainable food system,” Carter said.

“We learned about them at Food Day in October,” Vatalaro Hill said. “We saw the posters displayed and felt we needed to bring them to VCU. Giving students a vocabulary to talk about these issues is really important.”

Along with the Lexicon of Sustainability, Green Unity for VCU has arranged for a number of local artists, bakers and vendors to come together at the Rams Community Bazaar.

“The bazaar is a place to educate both students and the Richmond community about a green way of life,” Ashley Grupenhoff, a Green Unity organizer, wrote in an email. “From a healthy eating style and alternative transportation to climate change, there are many organizations that share information on environmental concerns.”

A sample of vendors that will be present at the bazaar include Tereza McInnes, Octavia Young, VCU Metals Department, Terra Gypsy, Eleanor Doughty, Sprout Head, Pack Wisdom Clothing and New Normal Apparel.

VCU Police, VCU’s Office of Sustainability, Richmond Wildlife Center and VCU’s Outdoor Adventure Program will also have informative tables.

Activities will include a mural where people can draw their idea of sustainability, a "guess the bike light" game with prizes and a terrarium workshop.

“The bazaar is a place where all can come together to learn, meet, have some fun, and celebrate springtime,” Grupenhoff wrote.

There is also a series of films being planned for the community, supported by the Wellness Resource Center, Green Unity and the Office of Sustainability:

·    "Trashed" - April 22, 7 p.m., Academic Learning Commons, room 2100

·    "Growing Cities" - April 23, 7 p.m., Academic Learning Commons, room 2100

·    "Urban Roots" - April 25, noon, Student Commons Theater

Additionally, Earth Day 2014 at VCU will celebrate the fourth year in a row the university has made The Princeton’s Review Guide to 322 Green Colleges list. This year’s edition, released on April 18, gave the university a high score of 98 out of 100 possible points for its commitment to sustainability.

 

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