Thousands of young adults embark on the college journey this time of year. But few do it quite the way some Kirkwood students do.
Thirty-eight brave students, mostly from Central America, earned a valuable opportunity to come to Kirkwood to learn sustainable agricultural production. Through Scholarships for Economic Education and Development (SEED), a unique USAID program administered by Georgetown University that supports economic and social development in very rural areas of Central America and the Caribbean, these students receive travel and educational funding.
“They remain in Cedar Rapids for two years, without returning home to see their families, and receive English language instruction in addition to agriculture training,” said Dawn Wood, Kirkwood International Programs director. “It’s a phenomenal opportunity, but at the same time, these young people are asked to shoulder a tremendous amount of responsibility.”
The students, under the instruction of Kirkwood Horticulture faculty member Brian Hazlett and others, are in charge of the Chef’s Garden, which provides fresh vegetables and herbs for The Class Act Restaurant at The Hotel at Kirkwood Center.
What started with a few varieties of herbs two years ago has turned into a 4,000 square foot sustainable Chef’s Garden providing a large variety of fresh organically grown produce for the restaurant.
“Not only are the SEED students getting practical, hands-on experience working with this garden, Kirkwood is saving money on purchasing and transportation costs, plus we’re providing Class Act customers with fresh and delicious local produce,” Hazlett said.
Because the Chef’s Garden has only been in production for one year, it cannot yet be certified organic. However, the garden is grown with only sustainable organic practices, using no chemical pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers.
A program of staggered planting, plant rotations, ingenuity and plain hard work maximize Iowa’s short growing season and every square inch of the garden plot. When one variety is harvested, another takes its place, in order to stay in stride with appetites at the Class Act. “The point is to grow high quality, high producing plants in a small space, while at the same time enriching the soil and controlling pests and disease,” Hazlett said.
Agriculture is a business and has many facets beyond labor. The students also learn the value of locally grown products, and how to market their produce to customers. “They see these vegetables through the entire production cycle, from farm to fork,” Hazlett said. “Sustainable practices, quality products and marketing to the end-user are all emphasized.”
Ricardo Etienne, a Kirkwood SEED student from Haiti, said he was approached by a local coffee company and asked to grow vegetables. “No one in the area where I live knows how to sustainably grow vegetables,” Etienne said. “The weather here is different, but we can apply the skills we’ve learned exactly the same. We’ve learned a lot and we know what to do in any situation.”
The drought of 2012 was an important factor in the student’s instruction. “We watched how the drought is affecting the corn and soybean crops in the area,” Etienne said. “We were still able to make money with our vegetable garden because we are diversified. The coffee company in my home country recognized the value of diversified farming as well.”
The SEED students complete a community action plan during their two years at Kirkwood, explaining how they will implement the sustainable practices they learned at the Chef’s Garden back home.
“The students realize the weight of their responsibility to their communities,” Wood said. “If you were to ask any of them about their scholarship, the response would be, ‘I did not receive a scholarship to come to the U.S., my community did.’”
Kirkwood has hosted the SEED program since 2009. Twenty of the students currently involved in the Chef’s Garden project arrived in the U.S. in 2011, while the second group of 18 just arrived in August 2012. Out of the hundreds who apply, only 18-20 students are approved for the program annually.
The process to be accepted as a SEED student is lengthy and intensive. Of the ones who make the initial cut, Kirkwood and Georgetown representatives comb through applications to determine who is a good fit for Kirkwood.
Once chosen to participate in the program, the USAID SEED scholarship covers all educational expenses in the U.S. They receive a very modest allowance for food and a bus pass for transportation. While here, they’re required to do community service in the Cedar Rapids area in addition to going to class and participating in the Chef’s Garden project. First year students live with host families. Students are not allowed to go back home during their two years at Kirkwood.
But, the students agree the restrictions are worth the valuable education and the doors it opens for their futures.
“It is a fantastic opportunity for these young students from the most rural areas of Central America and the Caribbean,” Wood said. “It is an even more amazing opportunity for Kirkwood to learn from them and their cultural heritage, and unique perspective on the world.”