change endeavor going and the hope to increase yields that will have a larger impact on the immediate community. “We had a late start this year, but because we have relationships with local nurseries, such as Blue Moon Nursery, who donated all the planting material, and the work of the EWU grounds’ crew, who put water in and have been just great to work with, we’ve been able to make all this work,” said O’Quinn, gesturing to the tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, broccoli and assorted herbs growing in multiple raised beds. “In the future, we hope to have higher productivity and to produce greens for Dining Services or perhaps have a campus kitchen. There are people in Cheney who go hungry, and there are older people who don’t get out and shop or eat healthy, and that’s something we could potentially help change.” In addition to supplementing the university with local fare and feeding those in need, the two advisors hope to expand the program beyond biology by offering courses that take the student to the next step in the process – preparing and serving healthy dishes from the cultivated offerings. They’re also working on outreach to increase participation – currently 15 to 20 active students plant, tend and harvest the crop – and spread the concept. “Much of this is modeled after the ‘Life Lab’ at UC Santa Cruz,” said Morley, who took a sabbatical last year and studied at the institute. “We’ve been working with the WSU Extension Office to help spread the message and to help educate K-12 teachers in the community so that they can start their own school garden and begin the education much earlier.
“We’ve met with principals and teachers throughout Cheney and Spokane, and they’re interested, but need help implementing it all,” she continued. “And that’s something we can provide through continuing education programs and certification courses or having our students work with schools and individual teachers.” O’Quinn also touts the popular trend toward buying local and growing your own food – and how small changes in traditional suburban thinking can have big impacts when taken in totality. “I’d like people to start to think differently, and to start to incorporate food-source plants into their landscapes.
“It’s really about extending the message of making responsible decisions when it comes to what you eat, eating local, and changing the hearts and minds of what young people are eating.” This concept of separate plots for farming is an ancient idea; it doesn’t have to be garden rows versus landscape plants – you can have both,” she said, noting the holistic benefits of including native and food plants into an area, such as increased pollinators and other organisms whose value extends ecosystem wide. “As a society, we’re wasting a lot of space. Unless you have a sheep, you don’t need a grass lawn.” Cultural changes that the two professors are hoping to nurture often start with small ideas on a local level, growing until they demand attention and become accepted practice. In Cheney, that seed of change is being cultivated among EWU students in a small garden behind the Red Barn.
ewu.edu/Engage
E NGAGE « 23