Life on a Farm

Life on a Farm This project will be submitted for COM 350, Environmental Communication, which Professor Silverman teaches as a course dedicated to food as a form of communication and as an environmental issue. This course entails a minimum fifteen hour service project designed to get the students in closer in touch with where our food comes from in order to have a better appreciation for how it is produced. Several projects were proposed, including an on-campus garden, working in the hydroponics lab, or spending time on one of several farms in the area. The most popular of these three ideas for many of the students was donating their time to a local farm. The research in this project focuses on Hermitage Farms in Deland, Florida. Students carpooled to the property and met Ben Walter, the owner and cultivator of Hermitage Farms. Helping Mr. Walter prepare for several projects to come in the spring season, students learned many of the intricacies of successful farming. It was fascinating to see how the health of one small paddock on one side of the property can drastically alter the success of another on the opposite end. Spending time with Mr. Walter on his property opened students’ eyes to the true amount of work it takes to produce food for a local community. The research gathered in the students’ time will be used to display the under-appreciated aspect of putting fresh food on a table, and help students think about where their food comes from before taking a bit