Bushwick Campus celebrates Earth Week

Education, food and fun were brought together when the students and faculty of Bushwick Campus’ four high schools celebrated Earth Week with EcoStation:NY at the Bushwick Campus Farm and Greenhouse on April 23.

The celebration of the planet included tours of the Bushwick Campus Farm and Greenhouse, cooking demonstrations, food tastings, compost workshops, hydroponic and aquaponic workshops in the greenhouse as well as musical, dance and spoken word performances.

“We wanted to see better food in the neighborhood,” said Sean-Michael Fleming, the executive director and co-founder of EcoStation:NY. “We also wanted to spark conversations about the environment. Hopefully this teaches the students how to do urban farming.”

EcoStation:NY is an independent, non-profit organization that explores the intersection of social and environmental justice through community food and sustainable urban agriculture projects that educate, inspire, and empower students and members of the community.

Students from the Bushwick Campus Food Justice Team helped make fruit and vegetable smoothies, guacamole and other tasty treats for event-goers. The Food Justice Team is an afterschool program of the Bushwick Campus, co-founded by EcoStation:NY that teaches students the importance of environmental health, the community and the effects of our current food system on both.

The cooking workshops and demonstrations were set up to inform not only the students, but the community, about sustainable and urban agriculture.

“Our goal is to make sure students understand we aren’t just talking about the environment, but building the community as well,” said Glenda Ullauri, the Bushwick Campus Farm manager. “We want to get the students interested in urban agriculture and cooking together with the demos for the school and community.”

The entire event was a learning experience for students and members of the Bushwick community.

“We want to use food as a tool to open up conversations about issues with food,” Fleming said. “The way food is produced shouldn’t be harmful to the planet.”

The Bushwick Campus Farm was founded in 2011, with the greenhouse coming a year later as part of the Bushwick Campus which is comprised of four high schools, Academy for Environmental Leadership, Bushwick School for Social Justice, Academy of Urban Planning, and Brooklyn School for Math and Research.