Students grow vegetables for low-income communities

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As part of a project to help poor, urban communities gain access to healthy food, St. Thomas students have begun their third cycle of growing vegetables for local corner stores that cater to low-income communities.

Biology professor Adam Kay helps lead a group of 15-18 students who have been working on the project in the John Roach Center greenhouse since last spring.

After starting the project, Kay said there was a brief shutdown that put the project on hold, but it is has been able to make a strong recovery. Kay said the group has sold a large amount of produce to participating corner stores.

“We have planted and grown cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, roma tomatoes, mustard greens, collard greens and leaf lettuce,” Kay said.

Composted coffee grounds with red worms are used as a replacement for synthetic fertilizer in the greenhouse corner store project. Students and faculty are testing if this renewable material can be a substitute for a non-renewable material. (Sofia Brown/TommieMedia)
Composted coffee grounds with red worms are used as a replacement for synthetic fertilizer in the greenhouse corner store project. Students and faculty are testing if this renewable material can be a substitute for a non-renewable material. (Sofia Brown/TommieMedia)

Community service and scientific research are incorporated into the sustainability project, Kay said, two aspects aided by the academically diverse student group. The research side of the project focuses on discovering whether composted coffee grounds, a renewable material, can be substituted for synthetic fertilizer, a non-renewable material.

“We have students on the team who have majors in psychology and social entrepreneurship,” Kay said. “The team is very interdisciplinary.”

Kay said he hopes to see more involvement, especially from those not within the biology department. He also said he hopes that the project will gain more funding.

The project team is discussing a possible partnership with the Minneapolis Health Department and a local distributer that would allow the project to grow.

Kay and Chambers said the team will have three projects to work on this summer, including urban renewal, growing science and a stewardship garden competition.

Senior Liz Chambers said it’s rewarding to see the food she helps grow go to food shelves for those in need.

“It is really nice to do research where you can see the impact,” Chambers said.

Sophomore Taylor Schuweiler, the project’s leader, said she enjoys making deliveries to the corner stores and talking with the owners.

“One of my favorite things about the project is the community service component,” Schuweiler said. “I love seeing when store owners are excited about what we’re doing and when they want to work hard to provide affordable, healthy options to their customers.”

Sofia Brown can be reached at brow3293@stthomas.edu.