SEEDS OF CHANGE
Marin Academy Community Addresses Food Insecurity in Marin
C
ars lined The Circle, bringing an unusual amount of activity to campus on a Saturday morning last November. Masked Marin Academy families, faculty, and staff had arrived to collect packaged seeds, soil, and containers to grow fruits, vegetables, and herbs at their own homes. Organized by MA Gardening for Food Security, a collaboration of MA's Climate Action Council, Community Action, and Marin Academy Parents' Association, the event was the first of many at MA to address
the overwhelming demand on food banks in Marin County. In March, the seedlings would be brought back to MA to be transplanted into the MA garden and eventually distributed to local families in need. Led by students Ashley M. '22 and Negin G. '22, with support from MA gardener Gina Neri and MA teachers James Hughes, Liz Gottleib, and Mark Stefanski, MA Gardening for Food Security was created in response to increasing food insecurity in Marin County. Defined as a "limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate foods or uncertain ability to acquire these foods in socially acceptable ways" by Healthy Marin, food insecurity is exacerbated by poverty and unemployment and is associated with chronic health problems in adults and children.
NEXUS 2021
23
