By Emily Hart and Alyssa Hartman,
Photo by Dan Edwards
Project Participants
Photo by Dan Edwards
Project Participants
Each semester, two immersive learning seminars are held in the Virginia Ball Center for Creative Inquiry. Located at the Kitselman Center west of campus, these programs are designed to unite students across a wide variety of disciplines. The students are charged with implementing a semester-long project designed by the course instructor, a faculty member at Ball State.
Central to the Virginia Ball Center is their mission to foster an experience that allows faculty and students to "explore the connections among the arts, humanities, science, and technology, create a product that illustrates collaborative research and interdisciplinary study, [and] present their product to the community in a public forum." Unlike many regular on-campus courses, VBC programs seek to allow students to take charge and exercise leadership in the creation and implementation of this project.
"VBC projects are really empowering for creativity. They give you a lot of freedom," said Dan Edwards, a junior telecommunications major with a focus in video production. "I think the conventional education system sometimes gets in the way of learning."
Goals of the Project
In the Fall semester, Dr. Andrea Powell Wolfe, an assistant professor in the department of English and in the Honors College, led a course at the VBC entitled Down to Earth.
This course focused on sustainable agriculture and the problems small-scale farmers face in an increasingly industrialized food system. The course was made up of 14 students, nine of whom were members of the Honors College. They were separated into three teams, each with a different function in the implementation of the project: the creation of a documentary film, an educational outreach program, and researching into the various issues surrounding small-scale,
sustainable agriculture.
The goal of the project was to increase awareness of the benefits of this form of agriculture in its ability to grow communities, foster relationships, and supply nutritious, ecologically contentious food.
Students were chosen for participation in this project based on an application process that took into account their interest in the project’s topic and their skills and knowledge relating to sustainability, agriculture, and film-making.
Passion for Sustainability
Dr. Wolfe was most inclined to recruit students who displayed an obvious passion for sustainability; she felt that they would be more willing to put forth the effort a student-led project such as this one takes if they truly cared about the project’s mission.
Amy Anderson, a junior biology major and member of the Honors College, is one such student. Her interest in the Down to Earth seminar stemmed largely from her enthusiasm for animal welfare.
“I wanted to be able to make an impact regarding a subject that I am pretty passionate about,” Anderson said.
As part of the outreach team, Anderson realized this goal by helping to create a proposal which could ratify an ordinance that makes it illegal to own chickens within Muncie’s city limits; she will also be presenting research on consumer perceptions of food labels and terms such as “organic,” “grass-fed,” and “cage-free” in relation to animal welfare, nutritional value, and environmental impact at this year’s Undergraduate Research Conference at Butler University.
This project also allowed students to discover new passions and interests. Garret Brubaker, a junior telecommunications major with a focus in video production, initially joined the project because of his interest in filming and editing a documentary.
“I wanted real-life hands-on experience that I knew would be invaluable to my future careers,” Brubaker said. “From a technical standpoint, I have learned a lot more on how to produce videos. From a broader standpoint, this project has opened my eyes to how the food I eat is produced. I have become a lot more conscious about being sustainable in my own life.”
Defining Sustainability
Because the word "sustainable" can have so many meanings, the group began this semester by defining what sustainability meant to their project. They decided that sustainable agriculture is "agriculture based upon the principles of ecological health, economic viability, social empowerment, and cultural creativity."
From there, the group researched these aspects of sustainable agriculture and the current food system by reading and discussing related literature, conducting personal research, visiting farms around the region, and speaking with professionals involved in various facets of the field of sustainability and food production.
Christine Kincade, a fifth year biology major in the Honors College, was a member of the team in charge of ecological and scientific research.
“I study and write articles on scientific issues such as soil health and livestock-crop integration systems,” Kincade said.
She was able to draw from her background in the sciences and apply that knowledge to this project; similarly, she found that her experiences working with Down to Earth have helped her in other areas of academia. Kincade’s Honors Thesis, titled “The Real Food Thesis,” draws on many of the concepts and issues central to the Down to Earth project.
“For an entire semester, I am only eating ‘real food,’” Kincade said. “No preservatives or artificial ingredients or processed food. I wanted to see if it was feasible on a college student’s budget. It ties in a lot with the project we're doing and I am able to cross-research the issues that we cover in the seminar that are relevant to my diet."
Interviews and Research
The students decided to focus on Kyle and Emily Becker, owners of Becker Farms, for the film documentary entitled Down to Earth: Small Farm Issues in a Big Farm World. Kyle and Emily are residents of Mooreland, Indiana where they live on their 98 acre farm and produce a variety of food animals and vegetables which are sold within East Central Indiana.
The triumphs and struggles seen at Becker Farms are representative of those faced by many small-scale farmers throughout the Midwest and speak to the nature of the current food system in the United States. The film seeks to promote awareness about the positive benefits sustainable, small-scale agriculture can have on the environment, the economy, and on the local community.
Kyle and Emily, who sell a large percentage of their goods directly to local consumers, raise their livestock to standards upon which they and their customers have agreed. In doing so, they are able to sell food that is healthier for their customers and for the planet, and are able to form lasting, personal relationships with consumers. Though Becker Farms is not certified organic by the USDA, they practice environmentally-friendly farming methods; as Kyle says, “I am certified by my customers.”
In order to gain a wider perspective of the world of sustainability and agriculture, members of Down to Earth interviewed several notable figures for their film, from Indiana State Senator Joe Donnelly to sustainable-farming pundit Joel Salatin. The filming team was able to talk with people in Washington D.C. from the Federal Farm Bureau and the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, and also got interviews with people well-regarded in the world of sustainable agriculture, such as Salatin, who is the owner of Polyface Farms in Virginia, and Will Allen, who is the CEO of an urban agriculture organization based in Milwaukee.
The Down to Earth group, through the Virginia Ball Center, was able to bring Will Allen to Muncie this past September and featured him as a speaker at the Living Lightly Fair, where he discussed the agricultural and community outreach programs he utilizes through his non-profit organization, “Growing Power, Inc.”
Whether the farms are in an urban setting like at Growing Power, or a rural one like Becker Farms, Down to Earth hopes their film and their outreach programs will help people understand the positive effects sustainable, small-scale agriculture and local food consumption can have on all aspects of life.
The film premiered at their Showcase at Heartland Hall of the Delaware County Fairgrounds on December 5, 2013. It won a regional Emmy award in June 2014.
Central to the Virginia Ball Center is their mission to foster an experience that allows faculty and students to "explore the connections among the arts, humanities, science, and technology, create a product that illustrates collaborative research and interdisciplinary study, [and] present their product to the community in a public forum." Unlike many regular on-campus courses, VBC programs seek to allow students to take charge and exercise leadership in the creation and implementation of this project.
"VBC projects are really empowering for creativity. They give you a lot of freedom," said Dan Edwards, a junior telecommunications major with a focus in video production. "I think the conventional education system sometimes gets in the way of learning."
Goals of the Project
In the Fall semester, Dr. Andrea Powell Wolfe, an assistant professor in the department of English and in the Honors College, led a course at the VBC entitled Down to Earth.
This course focused on sustainable agriculture and the problems small-scale farmers face in an increasingly industrialized food system. The course was made up of 14 students, nine of whom were members of the Honors College. They were separated into three teams, each with a different function in the implementation of the project: the creation of a documentary film, an educational outreach program, and researching into the various issues surrounding small-scale,
sustainable agriculture.
The goal of the project was to increase awareness of the benefits of this form of agriculture in its ability to grow communities, foster relationships, and supply nutritious, ecologically contentious food.
Students were chosen for participation in this project based on an application process that took into account their interest in the project’s topic and their skills and knowledge relating to sustainability, agriculture, and film-making.
Passion for Sustainability
Dr. Wolfe was most inclined to recruit students who displayed an obvious passion for sustainability; she felt that they would be more willing to put forth the effort a student-led project such as this one takes if they truly cared about the project’s mission.
Amy Anderson, a junior biology major and member of the Honors College, is one such student. Her interest in the Down to Earth seminar stemmed largely from her enthusiasm for animal welfare.
“I wanted to be able to make an impact regarding a subject that I am pretty passionate about,” Anderson said.
As part of the outreach team, Anderson realized this goal by helping to create a proposal which could ratify an ordinance that makes it illegal to own chickens within Muncie’s city limits; she will also be presenting research on consumer perceptions of food labels and terms such as “organic,” “grass-fed,” and “cage-free” in relation to animal welfare, nutritional value, and environmental impact at this year’s Undergraduate Research Conference at Butler University.
This project also allowed students to discover new passions and interests. Garret Brubaker, a junior telecommunications major with a focus in video production, initially joined the project because of his interest in filming and editing a documentary.
“I wanted real-life hands-on experience that I knew would be invaluable to my future careers,” Brubaker said. “From a technical standpoint, I have learned a lot more on how to produce videos. From a broader standpoint, this project has opened my eyes to how the food I eat is produced. I have become a lot more conscious about being sustainable in my own life.”
Defining Sustainability
Because the word "sustainable" can have so many meanings, the group began this semester by defining what sustainability meant to their project. They decided that sustainable agriculture is "agriculture based upon the principles of ecological health, economic viability, social empowerment, and cultural creativity."
From there, the group researched these aspects of sustainable agriculture and the current food system by reading and discussing related literature, conducting personal research, visiting farms around the region, and speaking with professionals involved in various facets of the field of sustainability and food production.
Christine Kincade, a fifth year biology major in the Honors College, was a member of the team in charge of ecological and scientific research.
“I study and write articles on scientific issues such as soil health and livestock-crop integration systems,” Kincade said.
She was able to draw from her background in the sciences and apply that knowledge to this project; similarly, she found that her experiences working with Down to Earth have helped her in other areas of academia. Kincade’s Honors Thesis, titled “The Real Food Thesis,” draws on many of the concepts and issues central to the Down to Earth project.
“For an entire semester, I am only eating ‘real food,’” Kincade said. “No preservatives or artificial ingredients or processed food. I wanted to see if it was feasible on a college student’s budget. It ties in a lot with the project we're doing and I am able to cross-research the issues that we cover in the seminar that are relevant to my diet."
Interviews and Research
The students decided to focus on Kyle and Emily Becker, owners of Becker Farms, for the film documentary entitled Down to Earth: Small Farm Issues in a Big Farm World. Kyle and Emily are residents of Mooreland, Indiana where they live on their 98 acre farm and produce a variety of food animals and vegetables which are sold within East Central Indiana.
The triumphs and struggles seen at Becker Farms are representative of those faced by many small-scale farmers throughout the Midwest and speak to the nature of the current food system in the United States. The film seeks to promote awareness about the positive benefits sustainable, small-scale agriculture can have on the environment, the economy, and on the local community.
Kyle and Emily, who sell a large percentage of their goods directly to local consumers, raise their livestock to standards upon which they and their customers have agreed. In doing so, they are able to sell food that is healthier for their customers and for the planet, and are able to form lasting, personal relationships with consumers. Though Becker Farms is not certified organic by the USDA, they practice environmentally-friendly farming methods; as Kyle says, “I am certified by my customers.”
In order to gain a wider perspective of the world of sustainability and agriculture, members of Down to Earth interviewed several notable figures for their film, from Indiana State Senator Joe Donnelly to sustainable-farming pundit Joel Salatin. The filming team was able to talk with people in Washington D.C. from the Federal Farm Bureau and the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, and also got interviews with people well-regarded in the world of sustainable agriculture, such as Salatin, who is the owner of Polyface Farms in Virginia, and Will Allen, who is the CEO of an urban agriculture organization based in Milwaukee.
The Down to Earth group, through the Virginia Ball Center, was able to bring Will Allen to Muncie this past September and featured him as a speaker at the Living Lightly Fair, where he discussed the agricultural and community outreach programs he utilizes through his non-profit organization, “Growing Power, Inc.”
Whether the farms are in an urban setting like at Growing Power, or a rural one like Becker Farms, Down to Earth hopes their film and their outreach programs will help people understand the positive effects sustainable, small-scale agriculture and local food consumption can have on all aspects of life.
The film premiered at their Showcase at Heartland Hall of the Delaware County Fairgrounds on December 5, 2013. It won a regional Emmy award in June 2014.