Carolina Campus Community Garden Advisory Board Minutes –January 15 2014
PRESENT: Alice Ammerman, Corey Buhay, Nancy Easterling, Christina Lebonville, Joanna Lelekas, Claire Lorch, John Powers, and Diane Webster
UPDATES:
Fencing – We finally got the green light from the Committee to install the fence and the installation is currently underway!
Greenhouse – At the Dec 2nd meeting of the CCCG Working Group, several members expressed an interest in being more involved in the decision making process regarding the design of the future solar-powered greenhouse. Claire will invite them to any future meetings with NCSU faculty. Joanna has volunteered to be part of this process as well.
Faculty Council – We are officially on the agenda for the Feb 14th meeting. Jessica Martell (faculty), Charles Streeter (Employee Forum) and Hope Ledbetter (student presenter from last semester) have all kindly agreed to speak. And we have three faculty members (previous partners with the garden) who have agreed to attend the meeting and contribute to the conversation. Our challenge is how to get it all said in 15 minutes!
Funding – Fox Family Foundation will be funding us for another year at $5000 and the Employee Forum has voted to give us $1000! Great way to start the New Year. Diane signed on to help figure out the best way to thank the Forum.
RECIPIENTS:
Student Interviews – Claire reviewed the findings and recommendations from a student’s research project last fall focused on the “Factors that Affect Housekeepers’ Participation in the Food Distributions.”
- Reasons people come to the distribution were: during work time, to supplement their food supply, to save money, location and transportation are good, good vegetables and readily accessible food source.
- Reasons people don’t’ come were: not enough food, because others need it more, forgot, didn’t know about them, too busy/too much work to do, would prefer different food, in ESL class and teacher won’t let them out.
- What we can change: improve our system of distribution so that not all of the same people are in the front of the line (and therefore have the best selection), provide bags “to go” for those that can’t attend a distribution for one reason or another.
HEAVENLY GROCERIES – This food bank operates out of St. Josephs’s Church on Rosemary St. and serves between 60 -80 people five days a week. They have everyone choose a number from a basket and then get in line based on what number they happen to draw.
DISCUSSION – It was suggested that we might institute the numbering system when necessary, consider bunching certain vegetables such as collards (and consult with produce department staff to find out their method) and bring along extra volunteers to “serve” appropriate “portions.” Claire would like to run these ideas by our housekeepers on the Advisory Board, Olga and Myra and Tim Carville (zone manager) to get their thoughts.
DISTRIBUTION NUMBERS- Since only a little more than half of the zone managers responded to a request from the Housekeeping Director to find out the number of staff that attend the distributions regularly and how many family members eat some of the garden vegetables, Claire will be seeking this information directly from the housekeepers that attend the distributions. She would like to have this information for the presentation to the Faculty Council and just to have a better idea.
FLOWERS FOR UNC HOSPICE-Claire’s sister delivers flowers that are donated from Southern Season (and other locations) to hospice patients and their families. She asked Claire whether CCCG might be willing to grow some flowers so that they could deliver fresh ones that will look better and last longer.
DISCUSSION –The consensus was not to take this on: not part of our mission, could be criticized for growing flowers instead of food, housekeepers would probably appreciate the flowers, other sources out there such as farmers’ markets that should be explored. However, the group seemed to feel comfortable providing flowers to this organization on an occasional basis if we have an overabundance…Joanna pointed out that some flowers such as zinnias and certain sunflowers do better when cut frequently.
SOCIAL MEDIA IDEAS –Corey, our new social media intern for this semester asked for our ideas. Suggested we keep the goal in mind, which is to recruit newcomers to the garden (and make it as appealing vs. intimidating as possible), be informative to potential funders and other interested folks. It was suggested that we refer back to our Strategic Goals to see how social media and the website can help us to meet them. Another suggestion was to consider having Facebook contests.
FUTURE MEETINGS: Feb 12, March 19, April 16