SJSU students and faculty attended the Feeding Our Hunger event at the Associated Students Campus Community Garden on Monday to educate students about food insecurity, food waste and resources on campus.
The event was a collaboration between the Cesar Chavez Community Action Center and the Poets and Writers Coalition, whose goal is to bring creative students together to share, support and connect with surrounding communities according to its webpage.
Attendees filled the small garden as artists and musicians performed and read poetry, drawing attention to the campus’ ever-growing concerns with food insecurity.
“Music doesn't really make an argument, but it opens up the mind and heart.” said Alan Soldofsky, the director of creative writing and advisor for the Poets and Writers Coalition. “I think having an open mind and heart when you think about empathy for other people is the first step.”
Soldofsky said that music and poetry help connect people, which is why they chose to invite creative organizers.
The event also hosted an open mic, where students and attendees took the stage to read poetry, and play music.
Monica Shannon, a sophmore advertising major, said that the event was an opportunity to bring more awareness about campus hunger, through both poetry and music.
“I think it's a great way to talk about it, because it’s an artform that people will listen to,” Shannon said. “It’s important and it’s a creative way to express opinions and thoughts.”
Attendees applauded the work and sentiments of the artists who performed, showing their overwhelming support for the event and its purpose.
The garden, overseen by the Cesar Chavez Community Action Center, also offers services to students to combat the campus community’s food insecurity. It was established in 2014 and is a student-led initiative that teaches and provides students with sustainable organic foods, according to the Associated Students’ webpage.
“We grow food for students, for the food pantry and to help students learn how to grow food,” said Matthew Spadoni, the Campus Community Garden Coordinator. “It’s the main mission of the garden.”
Spadoni said that the garden teaches students to grow their own food three days a week. The food grown in the garden goes to the food pantry on campus to feed hungry students.
“It’s the main mission of the garden,” said Spadoni. “We grow food for students, for the food pantry and to help students learn how to grow food.”
These are just a couple of many events they offer, including ones centered around environmental justice.
Environmental justice deals with the inclusion and proper care of all people, regardless of their racial or financial status as well as participation in efforts to help construct and encourage rules and regulations related to the environment according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency website.
Tyler Eveland, a poetry graduate student, played his guitar at the event.
He says that the event reminds students how important emphasizing food insecurity is to the area.
“We are trying to put an emphasis on hunger, and we know that the campus community has a relationship with food,” Eveland said. “Especially one that’s very relevant in Silicon Valley, as the cost of living here is substantially higher than most places throughout the U.S.”
