Arboretum celebrates National Food Day

The UCF Arboretum invited students to celebrate national Food Day at the community garden Monday morning.

The event started with an introduction to and explanation of Food Day, followed by an informational tour of the garden. Students were provided a free light lunch, which incorporated some of the foods grown on campus. The event finished with a presentation by Summer Singletary, a senior interdisciplinary studies major.

Food Day, according to its website, promotes "healthy, affordable food produced in a sustainable, humane way." The Arboretum joined with thousands of people across the nation to confront issues in our current food system.

"I wanted people to be able to participate in Food Day and realize that food activism isn't just in sending letters or writing to — whoever it may be — the person in power, but really getting your hands dirty and being part of creating a change that you wish to see," said Singletary, who helped plan the event.

The tour of the garden allowed the Arboretum to showcase the various plants grown while educating students on how to get involved and grow their own food. The community garden produces foods including basil, pineapple, sweet potatoes, grapes, citrus fruits and much more.

Tina Richards, the Arboretum's project coordinator, lead the tour, giving participants information about the benefits of organic gardening.

"With organic gardening you're building, you're cultivating the soil and you're not just reaping the harvest," Richards said. "It's a two-way cycle."

Richards let students taste various herbs and leaves, asparagus and sugar cane during the tour.

The garden's manager and UCF alumnus, Alex Stringfellow, was on hand to discuss future plans for the garden, as well as encourage students to begin planting and growing their own food.

"It's like the longest cooking project ever," Stringfellow said.

David Morgan, a graduate student studying communication sciences and disorders, is a regular volunteer at the Arboretum.

"Friday is my day off, and I like to spend it in the garden," he said. "I think it's relaxing. It's a nice way to know that I'm doing something productive that gives back a little bit. I think part of the whole liberal arts experience should be a sense of service and community."

The lunch allowed Morgan to taste some of the fruits of his labor, allowing the message of Food Day to come full circle. Just over two years after its beginning, the community garden is producing food that is feeding students.

"I think that sometimes it's hard to realize that we have the power to take things into our own hands and literally plant things that nourish us and the community," Singletary said.

Morgan also said he came to hear the lecture on permaculture.

"It's something that, conceptually, I find very interesting, but know practically little or nothing about," Morgan said.

Permaculture is the development of agricultural ecosystems intended to be sustainable and self-sufficient. Its goal is to create stable, productive systems that provide for human needs.

"Instead of thinking of nature as over here, and we're separate over here, it's kind of combining all those systems together so that it's not only sustainable, it's regenerative," Singletary said.

Singletary was certified in permaculture at the Regenerative Design Institute in California this summer. Since then she regularly offers free, educational workshops on the subject.

"Permaculture is really important and pertinent, especially at this time of existence on the planet," Singletary said. "We need this knowledge out here now."