Adventist Forum: Breaking Barriers in Food Equity

​Michiana Adventist Forum

presents

Breaking Barriers in Food Equity:
A Mobile Farmers' Market

presented by

​
Garth Woodruff
Assistant Professor of Horticulture & Landscape Design
Director, Agriculture Programs
Andrews University

​Saturday Afternoon at 3:30 pm
February 11, 2017

Chan Shun Hall
Andrews University
Berrien Springs, MI

About the Speaker
Garth  Woodruff
Garth Woodruff grew up on the Chesapeake Bay.  Taking Horticulture classes at a local community college helped spark his interest in landscaping and encouraged him to go to the University of Maryland to join the Landscape Architecture program. In 1996, he completed his B.T. degree in Horticulture/Landscape Design at Andrews University.  While pursuing his degree at Andrews, he started his own landscape design/build firm called Second Nature. He moved the company back to Northern Virginia to be closer to family and to raise a family of his own. After running Second Nature for 17 years, he decided to take a break and pursue new interests back at Andrews University. At Andrews, Garth  teaches courses for the Horticulture and Landscape Design degrees, bringing his years of practical experience to the classroom.  Outside of his career, Garth is a husband to his high school sweetheart, and together they raise two boys. They are an active, outdoor family, avid sailors, tri-athletes, and altogether adventurers. Garth is currently conducting research on Sense of Place.  He is the principle owner of Second Nature, and a member of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers .​

About the Topic

The polarizing condition of Berrien County food equity is shocking.  In a county with over 40% agricultural land use and the largest vegetarian restaurant in the US we still realize seven separate identified food deserts according to the USDA.  Breaking the barrier in these demographics is critical to the quality of life for many of our neighbors.

Over the last few years Andrews University Department of Agriculture has run a mobile farmers market targeting such locations.  In the summer of 2015 studies were done to inform the group on behaviors and trends. In the summer of 2016 a study was done to identify a sustainable business plan to meet those behaviors, to fulfill locals needs and to do so in an operation that was both environmentally and financially responsible.

The complexity of food deserts, the behavioral data we found and the possible interventions for breaking those barriers will all be discussed as we exam Andrews Mobile Farmers Market.