CCCG Advisory Board Meeting
September 20, 2015
Present: Alice Ammerman, Adam Bock, Rachel Dango, Nancy Easterling, Carol Enarson, Shayna Hill, Christina Lebonville, Claire Lorch, Arlene Medder, John O’Sullivan, Kyle Parker, and Diane Webster and guests, Charlie Egan, Eli Murray, Bob Harris (from RESPC) and Emily Auerbach (Edible Campus).
Introductions: Carol Enarson, a neighbor, Orange County master gardener and very active volunteer is the newest member of our board.
Updates
- Natives of the Earth – Giszell and Bronwyn have decided to partner with HOPE Gardens.
- Class Visits –We have had three class visits to the garden so far this semester from the Communications Dept and Environmental Sciences.
- Carolina Cupboard – Rachel reported that this organization (which operates a food back in Avery Residence Hall) is at capacity so currently is only open to students.
- Weed Dating – We are exploring the possibility of holding a weed-dating event this semester with a fraternity (Kappa Sig) and sorority (Alpha Chi).
Greenhouse Kickoff Event
- Charlie told us that every student contributes $4.00 (from student fees) for renewable energy projects, though many of them are not nearly as exciting as ours. For this reason, RESPC wants visibility for the greenhouse and would like to have as many students attend the kickoff as possible.
- We looked at holding the event the first week of December either before exams or as a break from exams. It was suggested to hold the event to coincide with a workday, so probably on a Sunday. There was concern expressed about planning an event around a construction schedule that could change due to weather, among other things.
- It was also suggested that we might want to wait until spring when the greenhouse is up and running and hopefully, seedlings thriving!
- We will need to keep FLO informed to help us get the word out to students.
- It was suggested that we invite the neighbors and Carol offered to put something up on their listserv. It was also suggested that Linda Convisor (town/gown relations) be kept informed.
- We might want to consider tying in the Edible campus (could grow seedlings in our greenhouse for that project) and the Food for All Theme.
- John suggested that we invite the Newman Center parishioners and contact Natalie Hampton with Extension over at State.
- We will also keep Karen Moon from UNC’s Office of Communication and Public Affairs informed of our plans.
- In a follow-up discussion after the meeting, Charlie agreed that we would hold off a big event until the spring.
Edible Campus
- Emily Auerbach gave a very brief presentation of the Edible Campus project she proposed last spring and was recently hired by the Chancellor to carry out. The project calls for integrating more edible plants in distributed plantings throughout campus and in an edible nature pocket park. The emphasis will be on education.
- Emily suggested three ways that CCCG might partner with the Edible Campus: we could share volunteers (though most of the work will be done by Grounds staff, we could help train their student interns and they could contribute any extra food to our distributions.
- Their first set of plantings of fruit and nut trees are scheduled to take place in three weeks.
Recipients and Sensitivity
- A UNC employee (with a background in research), who is on our mailing list has expressed concern about a recent photo included in a garden email of housekeepers lined up at a distribution She feels that publicizing these photos might be insensitive and/or a breach of our recipients’ privacy.
- It was suggested that we might want avoid taking any photos of faces of recipients and that we always get permission to use the photos. Given the language barrier for many, we also need to be sure those photographed understand completely how we intend to use the photos.
- It might be better to spotlight an individual recipient, which has been done before.
- There was also some concern expressed by another person on our mailing list about the use of the term “housekeeper” and “lowest wageworkers”.
- Chris suggested that we look into the research that has been done in this area and also that we directly ask housekeepers how they feel about these issues.
- As a start, Claire will follow up with Victoria Whitfield, the housekeeping representative on the board, who was not able to attend this meeting.
Upcoming Events
- Oct 5th School of Ed senior science methods class to tour/volunteer
- Oct 4th Pharm D students to volunteer
- Oct 11th UNC Chapter of NSCS to volunteer
- Oct 12th FLO Farmer’s Market in the Pit
- Oct 17th Marathon Executives to volunteer
- Oct 25th UNC Chapter of NSCS to volunteer
- Oct 28th Advisory Board Meeting 8 -8:50am
- Nov 15th Junior League of Durham and Orange Co. to volunteer