My Garden

Spring Awakening: A Musical Drama of Sundresses and Kleenexes

The Ides of March, also my brother’s birthday, Happy 24^th Birthday Jared, ushered in the start of a beautiful spring; the time of blossoming flowers, vibrant yellows and reds, gorgeous sundresses, and unfortunately, like myself, a case of terrible allergies.

The other day, I went to a beautiful spring wedding reception; and as a gift the family gave away flowers to represent the growing relationship of family and friendship. The flower in front of me was the Primrose, a beautiful yellow tint flower. This happened to be the same name of a character in the popular book, The Hunger Games, which I thought was pretty cool. It’s a cool book; you should check it out.

This flower made me think about gardening and my own green thumb. I don’t really have much experience in gardening but a couple of springs ago, I took care of some tomato and bell pepper plants. I didn’t really do much, just water them every once and a while.

In return, these plants produced tasty medium sized tomatoes and peppers, which I put on bagels, salads, and sandwiches. They tasted fresh and healthy, but the best thing about them is that they came from my backyard. I felt accomplished and rewarded.

I think it is really important to support local farms and, if you’re ambitious, try gardening. By buying local seasonally grown produce, you support produce that doesn’t need to be stuffed with pesticides and preservatives; you help maintain the quality of land use and soils; you get to enjoy it.

Unfortunately, it can be expensive to do this, and realistically, you’re probably going to buy the $1.50 per pound tomatoes from Giant over the $2.50 ones from Whole Foods. It’s ironic and sad that to buy from your backyard can be more expensive than buying from a farm miles away.

Maryland Food Collective

Last weekend my Australian mate Sally came to visit me in College Park. We gave her the true American Experience – McDonalds (6 cheeseburgers, 2 double cheese burgers, and 1 big mac), Chipotle (2-pound chicken burrito with extra cheese), Taco Bell (big box), and Dominos (1 chicken, 1 pepperoni, and 1 cheese pizza). At the time, they were all great ideas, but as so many of us have felt before, that next day your decision weighs you down. Devo!

I would like to think that most people don’t normally eat this way. I know I personally do not. And there are alternatives to processed fried space food (exception to Chipotle) and unfortunately our friend didn’t get the chance to try them. One of those places is the Maryland Food Collective, or the Co-op.

The Co-op, located in University of Maryland’s student union building, provides food options that are nutritious, derived from local organic farms, and free of corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, or MSG. The Co-op has excellent sandwiches, salads, and lunch specials.

Beside from their delicious and healthy foods, they are environmentally conscious. You may have heard the term, “think globally, act locally.” This phrase simply encourages individuals to be aware of their environmental impact by supporting and assisting local communities.

Take meat production for an example. From the Scientific American magazine article, “production levels of meat contribute between 14 to 22 percent of the 36 billion tons of CO-2 equivalent green house gasses the world produces every year.” Which are the same green house gasses that contribute to global warming.

It is important to understand the environmental impact of our lifestyles. So please, be conscious about what you’re eating and definitely check out the Co-op for healthy, environmentally friendly food options.