How the UW Farm Has Influenced My Journey With Food
By Alex Ball, Undergraduate Student, Food Systems, Nutrition, and Health, CSA Assistant Manager & Dani Elenga Intern
Food has always played an important role in my life. My mom is a registered dietician, and having her to help encourage healthful habits and eating behaviors made good food a priority from an early age. Every night, our family would make time to sit down to a meal together. I was packing my own lunches by the fifth grade, and our pantry rarely had any processed foods or snacks (to the dismay of any friends that would come over). In high school, as I became increasingly involved in athletics, food also became fuel. I needed the correct quantity and quality of nutrients in order to feel good while performing a high level of physical activity. Food has and will continue to be many things to me.
But until I started volunteering with the UW Farm, I never gave more than a fleeting thought to where all of this food started. Where the lettuce in my salad came from, or what it took to make a slice of bread. As a service learner with ENVIR 100 (Introduction to Environmental Studies), I learned the basic techniques and processes of small-scale vegetable farming. Although this was just a small look into one possible origin of food, I also learned how the practices of the UW Farm and other regenerative growers were more beneficial to human and planetary health than conventional growers. I began looking at items on the store shelves differently, seeing them as not only a source of nutrients and calories, but also as a result of tremendous time, human labor, and natural processes. I also began making connections between my food purchasing decisions as a consumer, and what production systems I wanted to support.
Moving into the summer and fall of my sophomore year at UW, I got the opportunity to become an intern at the UW Farm. I focused on managing the Farm’s relationship with UW dining, and as a result exposed myself to the diligent planning, record-keeping, and other logistical feats that come with managing and running a farm. I saw how intricate food systems could be, and how vital a resilient one is to a community. Needless to say, the past year and a half has cultivated my appreciation and love for food more than I ever could have hoped, and has strengthened my understanding of our entire food system. But, I know that there is still so much more to learn.
I’m excited to launch into this next learning phase of my life. From learning about the production of food and the journey it takes through a food system, I will now have the privilege of being our seasonal CSA Assistant Manager, interacting with dozens of households each week as they come to pick up their weekly share. Perhaps to feed their family at a sit-down meal like I enjoyed as a kid, to fuel their active lifestyles, or try to just eat more vegetables. I know that food means different things to everyone. It can be enjoyment, stress, fuel, work, life, a chore, and so much more all at once. But what I do know is that all of those are products of, at some point, a farm. A farm with natural resources, people working hard, and a goal of producing food.
Recipe of the Week:
Creamy Vegan Radish and Spinach Sandwich
By Zereen Gesmundo, Nutrition Education Intern
Recipe & Image Source: Zereen Gesmundo
This Creamy Vegan Radish and Spinach Sandwich is the ultimate comfort food. Coated in vegan cheese and filled with crunchy radish, this sandwich makes an easy and refreshing midday meal.
Ingredients
Bread of choice (I recommended ciabatta rolls)
Cheese of choice (vegan or dairy)
4 ounces garlic spread
4 ounces cream cheese (vegan or dairy)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 cup chopped breakfast radishes
1/2 cup salad greens or spinach
Butter (vegan or dairy)
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Combine the cream cheese, garlic spread, greens, and spices in a bowl
Butter the outside of each slice of bread. To the inside of each slice add 1/2 of the vegan cream cheese, chopped radishes & cheese.
Close the sandwich with the butter sides facing out.
Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat. Place the sandwich onto the pan and toast until the bottom is golden brown. Once toasted, flip the sandwich to the untoasted side.
Once the whole sandwich is also toasted and the cheese is melty, take the sandwich off the pan and enjoy!
The UW Farm donates regularly to the UW Food Pantry. During peak season we also donate to nearby food banks. The links below are resources to help you or someone you know with food access.
Every year, we have the capacity to grow more food and increase our educational and research program at the UW, but not without your support. Every contribution goes to work immediately, helping us better serve students. Your support can sustain our momentum and help seed new opportunities for student internships, academic work, and future growth. Please consider making a gift to the Farm online
The Weekly Dirt is produced once a week by the University of Washington Farm, a program of the UW Botanic Gardens, School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, College of the Environment. It is published nearly year-round for educational purposes and the majority of the content is written or contributed by students and farm staff.
This issue’s contributors:
Managing Editor: Siffre Tooth, UW Farm Food Security Lead ’23-24
Around the Farm: Alex Ball, Undergraduate Student, Food Systems, Nutrition, and Health, CSA Assistant Manager & Dani Elenga Intern Recipe of the Week: Zereen Gesmundo, Nutrition Education Intern, Food Systems, Nutrition, and Health, Art Contributing Editors: Perry Acworth, Farm Manager; Siffre Tooth, UW Farm Food Security Lead ’23-24 Photo Credits: Perry Acworth. Other photos retrieved from the internet and noted in sections
make time to sit down to a meal together. I was packing my own lunches by the fifth grade, and our pantry rarely had any processed foods or snacks (to the dismay of any friends that would come over). In high school, as I became increasingly involved in athletics, food also became fuel. I needed the correct quantity and quality of nutrients in order to feel good while performing a high level of physical activity. Food has and will continue to be many things to me.
I learned the basic techniques and processes of small-scale vegetable farming. Although this was just a small look into one possible origin of food, I also learned how the practices of the UW Farm and other regenerative growers were more beneficial to human and planetary health than conventional growers. I began looking at items on the store shelves differently, seeing them as not only a source of nutrients and calories, but also as a result of tremendous time, human labor, and natural processes. I also began making connections between my food purchasing decisions as a consumer, and what production systems I wanted to support.
and as a result exposed myself to the diligent planning, record-keeping, and other logistical feats that come with managing and running a farm. I saw how intricate food systems could be, and how vital a resilient one is to a community. Needless to say, the past year and a half has cultivated my appreciation and love for food more than I ever could have hoped, and has strengthened my understanding of our entire food system. But, I know that there is still so much more to learn.
CSA Assistant Manager, interacting with dozens of households each week as they come to pick up their weekly share. Perhaps to feed their family at a sit-down meal like I enjoyed as a kid, to fuel their active lifestyles, or try to just eat more vegetables. I know that food means different things to everyone. It can be enjoyment, stress, fuel, work, life, a chore, and so much more all at once. But what I do know is that all of those are products of, at some point, a farm. A farm with natural resources, people working hard, and a goal of producing food.
