Collaboration with Twin Cities Universities Will Support Food Access
For immediate release
Campus Compact Contact:
Emily Shields, [email protected], (515) 321-6024
Member Campus Project Contacts:
Hamline University: Susi Keefe, [email protected] and Valentine Cadieux, [email protected]
Augsburg University: Natalie Jacobson, [email protected]
St. Catherine University/Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet: Emily Seru, [email protected]; Sam Kelly, [email protected]; and Jennifer Tacheny, [email protected]
Minneapolis, MN: Iowa & Minnesota Campus Compact is excited to announce that in collaboration with Augsburg University, Hamline University, and St. Catherine University, the organization was awarded a planning grant from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). The project, Urban liberal, arts colleges in community food ecosystems: Nourishing underserved students, families, and neighbors, was selected for funding through the NIFA’s Community Foods Projects program.
The project will fund workshops and student fellowship positions on the three campuses with the goal of exploring ways to partner with each other and local communities to create “food ecosystems” that address food insecurity on- and off-campus. Each of the three campuses already has unique approaches to meeting the needs of students and their surrounding communities.
“This grant represents a unique opportunity to bring campus and community together and develop long-term, sustainable solutions to food insecurity,” said Emily Shields, Executive Director of Minnesota Campus Compact. “We look forward to learning more about what works and being able to share ideas with our network.”
As the three campuses connected their basic needs infrastructure with curriculum, project leaders recognized the need for collaboration. Spring 2020 efforts included workshops sharing rapid response strategies to extraordinary food security needs during COVID and a workshop on campus farms and gardens.
Through a strategic alliance with Iowa Campus Compact, Minnesota Campus Compact strengthens the capacity of colleges and universities to fulfill the public purposes of higher education through its network of 59 campuses in both states. This includes educating students through community and civic learning experiences and making an impact in communities through reciprocal partnerships that address community-identified goals. IAMNCC creates partnership opportunities, supports quality programming through professional development, and promotes the importance of the civic mission.
