Gardening on the Fringes: A Case Study at City Tech

Abstract

Gardening offers college students a direct connection to the raw material they use in cooking classes. The added pleasure that comes with handling extremely fresh vegetables can enhance their cooking technique, point up the environmental advantages of local produce, and inform their menu development. Garden experience can also give entry-level culinary graduates a leg up in the farm-to-table restaurant market. This case study describes how a garden initiative developed to enhance culinary education became embedded within the subculture of college clubs and social activism. It builds on the large body of scholarship which has demonstrated the personal, educational, and social benefits that come with student gardening and nature connections in an urban setting. It demonstrates that when culinary gardening does not fit into the landscape of the college it can flourish on the fringes of the institution. For working-class students in a public urban college, the value of gardening is embedded in the personal, social, and gustatory pleasures that come from garden-related activities on campus. What happens in the garden does not stay in the garden; it informs school culture and the college experience.

Keywords:

• farm-to-table
• culinary garden
• experiential learning
• urban farming
• cultural capital
• self-esteem
• activism
• urban college