Courtesy PepsiCo Food for Good Initiative
The Food for Good Farm , a joint urban farm undertaking between PepsiCo and Paul Quinn College , was work up on the college ’s former football game field .
In a place like Dallas , Texas — one of the U.S. ’s top burgeon cities in a nation that hosts some of the res publica ’s best ranch land — it ’s hard to consider that lack of impudent food would be a trouble for anyone . But the southern part of the city has come to be known as a food desert , with access to low-priced fruit and veggie out of arm ’s reaching .
Paul Quinn College , a small , nonage - based college of 150 students in South Dallas , unnerve by the unavailability of fresh intellectual nourishment for its educatee and the surrounding community of interests , decided to take matter into its own hand .
“ The close food market is 5 miles away from the college , ” state Michael Sorrell , president of Paul Quinn College . “ There are no goodly dining alternative at all — the Subway at a gaseous state place in the next town to the south is the nearest salubrious dining choice to the college . ”
With an unused football field left over from the college ’s discontinued football programme , the college partnered with PepsiCo to set forth the Food for Good Farm on the original gridiron .
The Food for Good Farm, a joint urban farm project between PepsiCo and Paul Quinn College, was built on the college’s former football field.
The idea for the farm started in January 2010 , but month before reason was disclose on the 2 - acre plot in March . The original programme for the football field was to transform 30 yards into a small garden , but by partnering with PepsiCo and its new Food for salutary program , the school was able to take the land even further to embed greens , corn , tomatoes , squash and other crops .
For many students on campus , this will be their first gardening experience .
“ When the tractors first commence demonstrate up on campus , most students had no idea why they were charge up the football game field , ” say Patrick Hillard , a sophomore from Ft . Worth , Texas , and student captain of the farm team . “ As Word of God start to circulate that Paul Quinn College would soon have an urban farm , most educatee at first thought it was a joke . ”
The urban farm at Paul Quinn college was inaugurated on May 5 , 2010 .
The crops reap will be divided among Paul Quinn and PepsiCo ’s program . Half of the crop will be sell to area restaurants and grocery stores , 20 per centum will be served in the college dining hall at a discounted rate to students , and 10 per centum will be donated to food banks and orbit folk in need .
The remaining 20 percent of the harvest will be donate to PepsiCo ’s farm stand initiative , a program to provide local growers with the tools needed to start their own farm stand . The concept is first being tested in Dallas ’ Jubilee Park Community .
“ The green goods grown at the Food for Good Farm will be a source for the Jubilee Park farm stand and other local farm stands as the model expands throughout Dallas and the Highland Hills residential district that fence in Paul Quinn College , ” sound out Amy Chan , the Food for in force project director .
harmonise to Sorrell , with 140 more acres of fresh land , this new urban farm just scratches the surface of what ’s to derive .
Beyond the Harvest
More than just a piece of land that will bring physical aliment , the Food for Good Farm will bring noetic sustenance as well . Over the next four years , the college will be rolling out a new social entrepreneurship program and grade program that will contain lessons learn on the farm .
“ We are not stress to change by reversal our students into farmers . We are trying to turn our bookman into social entrepreneur and societal leaders , ” Sorrell says . “ When you are in the business organization of teaching pupil to be loss leader , you take on the problem that require to be tackled . ”
The program will address all kind of community of interests needs . But give the residential area ’s want of available , nutritional produce and the country ’s growing malnutrition and childhood obesity problems , the farm seemed like a legitimate spot to get going .
Beginning in 2010 all students at Paul Quinn will be required to enroll in a twelvemonth - long social entrepreneurship study , one-half of which will be spent working on the farm . PepsiCo will get in experts to aid students in soil readiness , crop survival and irrigation proficiency , as well as in business development and sell the produce locally .
Sorrell note that with intellectual nourishment deserts in communities across the U.S. , the Food for Good Farm has the potential drop to become a interior model — all it take is people ’s decision to create change . The students seem to be catching on to this notion .
“ Our schooltime is in South Dallas , not exactly what someone would call meridian substantial estate of the realm for a farm , ” Hillard says . “ This projection has taught me that no matter what , there is always a solution to a problem that can and will benefit other people . A class ago , we had an ugly look football field that was not in use . Now , we have the beginnings of a harvest — fruits and vegetable growing between those goal posts . ”
