Better Food, Better World Scholarship

Spending summers in the smog-covered rice fields of Bandung, I’ve grown up with the understanding that our current relationship with the environment is unbalanced and unhealthy. The food aspect of environmental science occurred to me when my dad’s health required “better foods.” The term was obscure, what is considered “good” or “bad” food, anyway? The mornings spent preparing his meals I’d often wonder if the answer was found in the agricultural method, that somehow, it was the soil and climate that affected the food we ate. It was something barely touched upon at school, and I found the lack of food and agriculture-literacy to be a cause of concern. If the environment had such a big pull on our nutritional health, kids should be more exposed to the topic. Food literacy is a long overdue issue in America. The disparity has led to disproportionate levels of sovereignty and perpetuates generations of systemic barriers. From food insecurity, to land rights, to the environment, there were so many parts that played into our food system. Even after doing my own research and readings, I saw evidence of those issues in my own life. As a Muslim, every Ramadan I see mosques in urban centers such as Everett and South Seattle without an adequate amount of food, cautiously portioning meals. I believe that the first step to a more equitable food system is education and exposure. With the help of a GripTape grant, I founded AgConnection as an effort to promote food and agriculture education in my community. I recruited a team of high schoolers and created our official website, which acts as an online clearinghouse bridging students with local opportunities. We had a slow start, with many of our projects ending prematurely and our outreach emails getting no responses. One such project was the “Food and Agriculture Career Panel”, which would feature interviews from professionals in the industry. Out of the 30 emails sent, we only got 1 interview. But we kept emailing and updating our website, as well as brainstorming better methods to reach more students. One of those ideas was to create an Instagram account and post about the various opportunities one would find on our site. I slowly started learning marketing strategies on Instagram and expanded the content of our posts into interactive contests, quizzes, and educational infographics about food and agriculture. Our posts spotlight food justice heroes, such as Tanya Fields, or define food vocabulary, so that our followers will become more informed consumers. I found that many kids and young adults enjoyed our content, and Instagram was a perfect platform to connect with them. But what if we extended that work into schools? So we decided to launch another ambitious project: Partnering with elementary schools to teach agriculture education. With the new outreach strategies and connections we’d made, we received 6 responses from different schools in the Seattle area. I developed a presentation and virtual workshop curriculum, walking kids through the food system. After receiving a microgrant from United Way, we’ve been able to provide kids with at-home science kids so they can continue exploring the science of food and plants from home. The goal is for young kids to start thinking about where their food comes from and what role they play in the food system. By recruiting a team from my high school, I hope I can inspire years of ag and food education advocates. Through leadership opportunities and teamwork projects, I hope that students start exploring the multidisciplinary nature of food systems, from statistics to biology, policy, and beyond.