“Within the first 24 hours, we had just about 30 requests for shares,” said Taylor Weidman, one of the original masterminds behind the CSA project. “We obviously couldn’t fill them all.”

The group could only invite 11 of those 30 to purchase a share, which entitles the holder to a portion of the produce grown on campus from May through September.

Each participant invests $100 in May and $100 in July, or they contribute an equal amount through labor in the campus gardens.

club, which also runs a produce stand in the fall and transports excess cafeteria food to local nonprofits, operates the CSA program.

“There’s been a lot of institutional support, but the movement has come from the student body,” explained Weidman.

Last year, the program’s first, the CSA offered just six shares.

“We were just testing the model,” said Weidman before heading out to harvest produce from one of the five campus gardens used for the project.

Half those shareholders returned – the others backed out because they started their own gardens – bringing the total number of shareholders this year to 14.

The project is quickly growing. Next summer, the group could offer 20 to 25 shares, explained Weidman, a 23-year-old 91短视频 grad who majored in , and .

The CSA project weaves all those concepts together and then some. It unites the university’s community while creating edible landscaping that returns dollars to the local area, Weidman says.

The program is made possible thanks to support from faculty, staff and students, all of whom are represented among the shareholders.

allows four summer employees to spend part of their workdays tending the gardens, while some of the upkeep also comes from volunteers, Weidman said.

After the CSA season is over, produce still sprouting from the garden will be sold to the university’s cafeteria, he added.

“The reason this is a little different from most [CSAs] is that we’re growing produce on a campus,” Weidman said. “This is one of the best examples of local agriculture, because the revenue generated from this is going back into this place.”

Article courtesy Daily News Record, July 23, 2013

This summer, for the second year in a row, 91短视频鈥檚 vegetable gardeners are growing beans, tomatoes, peppers, squash, potatoes, onions, lettuce, herbs, peas, spinach, grapes, and more for a group of 15 committed purchasers in a system called 鈥渃ommunity-supported agriculture,鈥� or CSA.

Each CSA shareholder invests $100 at the beginning of the summer, plus $100 in July (or the equivalent in labor), to receive 1/15^th of the freshly harvested food each week over the summer. Three of the 2013 shareholders are returnees from last year; the others responded to an 91短视频-wide email sent by two university professors, and , inviting people to buy the remaining shares. All were snapped up within 24 hours.

鈥淲e started talking about having a CSA in the fall of 2011,鈥� says Taylor Weidman, one of the original visionaries for the program. 鈥淲e wanted to keep it small, though, so we could test it out and not be overwhelmed.鈥�

91短视频 has supported the initiative by allowing four summertime employees of the university鈥檚 physical plant 鈥� recent graduates Weidman and Aly Zimmerman and rising juniors Jeni Heishman and Chris Lehman 鈥� to spend part of their workdays on the gardens.

鈥淥wning a share means there will be a basket of food waiting for you every Friday evening in conjunction with a simple, informal meal for anyone interested,鈥� said the email inviting shareholders in early April.

, 91短视频 grounds supervisor, says that from the get-go the CSA has been led by students, emerging from their , with the support of faculty and staff. 鈥淲ithout the leadership of students like Louise Babikow and Taylor Weidman, the CSA wouldn鈥檛 be able to exist,鈥� he says.

In its inaugural summer of 2012, only six shares were offered. This summer, that number has more than doubled to 15. 鈥淲e might expand [next summer] to 20-25 shares,鈥� says Weidman, 鈥渂ut we don鈥檛 really have the resources to go beyond that.鈥�

Office manager 鈥�08 is one of the shareholders: 鈥淚 love that I can see where everything is grown when I walk around campus, and that it’s a walk or bike ride away from my house.鈥� On one recent Friday, Hostetler received asparagus, arugula, chard, herbs, kale, lettuce and spinach. She looks forward to receiving tomatoes, beans, peppers, peas, onions, squash, garlic, potatoes, cabbage and beets in coming weeks.

In their email announcing the 2013 CSA, the Sustainable Initiative students explained that their vision goes far beyond growing vegetables. They view community-rooted food production and consumption as a means 鈥渢o connect together to build a community dedicated to doing justice聽with how we grow and eat.鈥�

Rose Byler, a senior major from Goshen, Ind., won first place with her speech, “Living into the Tension: Social Services and Systemic Change.” Byler discussed how her profession can both empower individuals and tackle systemic issues.

“I challenge us to use our gifts to empower individuals, communities and policy making bodies in ways that confront systemic injustice and shift toward sustainable change. We must not forget the end goal,” Byler said.

As first-place winner, Byler receives a cash prize and entry in the bi-national competition with winners from other Mennonite-rooted colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. The bi-national winner will be announced in the fall.

Julia Schmidt, a junior from Pandora, Ohio, who is majoring in in addition to , was first runner-up with her speech, 鈥淗olding Dignity in the Community of Faith.鈥� Her speech focused on responses to difference and conflict in the church, articulating “how the concept of dignity can transform the way we live in relationship as a community of faith.”

“Looking back on my two experiences [in Ohio and Texas], I believe that dignity was the difference,” said Schmidt. “Now, I don’t think people in (my first church example) were bad people, or they meant to harm each other in the way they did. However, the church did not understand dignity, and how dignity is essential to all humans, and especially when attempting to be a community of Christ.”

Taylor Weidman, a junior from Chambersburg, Pa., who is triple-majoring in , and , was second runner-up with his speech, 鈥淒issimilarity is Hope.鈥� Weidman spoke about his story of dyslexia and the recognition of dissimilarities in the world.

“As a community dedicated to peace, we must not use or internalize the methods of measurement or conformity,” Weidman said. “As a community of learners and teachers, we cannot let ourselves become reduced to merely cogs in a system of compulsion鈥︹��

The annual oratorical event, open to students in Mennonite and Brethren in Christ universities and colleges in Canada and the United States, is administered by Peace and Justice Ministries of U.S.

Each speaker applied the Christian peace position to a contemporary concern in an 8-10 minute address.

The contest was established in 1974 in honor of the late C. Henry Smith, a Mennonite historian and professor at Goshen College and Bluffton University.

Other 2012 contestants

• Thomas Millary, 鈥淎 Pluralistic Realm: Towards a Theology of Peace鈥�
• Joel Nofziger, 鈥淐onfession as a Restorative Practice in the Church鈥�
• Sarah Schoenhals, 鈥淛ustice from Generation to Generation鈥�
• Jamila Witmer, 鈥淗is Dream is our Command: Breaking Stereotypes through Integration鈥�