Issue link: http://georgiancollege.uberflip.com/i/1043306
GROWING GEORGIAN GEORGIAN CHANGEMAKERS ROOT OUT FOOD INSECURITY Inspired by Ashoka, and with the support of the Community Impact Lab at Georgian's Centre for Changemaking and Social Innovation, students enrolled in the Social Service Worker program at the Orillia Campus recently explored ways to address food insecurity. The students were broken into teams, and charged with the task of developing compelling, sustainable and human-centred solutions to the problems that individuals and organizations face on a regular basis. "The students really had a lot of great ideas to share and offered a fresh perspective to our community partners," says Nicole Norris, Community Impact Projects Liaison. "All these ideas helped break down the huge issues." One project tackled the challenge of improving awareness and access to traditional food ingredients for international students, while another mapped out available community resources that assist with special dietary needs and restrictions. A third team worked with the YWCA to create a passive solar greenhouse that is also a social enterprise. Avery Konda, outgoing president of the Georgian College Students' Association in Barrie, returned home from a trip to India with a vision – to ensure no student at the college goes hungry. Through an eight-month entrepreneurial co-op organized by the Henry Bernick Entrepreneurship Centre, the Environmental Technology graduate founded Growing Georgian, an on-campus garden that provides students with fresh, locally grown food. "Food insecurity directly impacts student success in the classroom," says Avery. "There's a correlation between having access to healthy food and excelling academically." The college's on-campus food bank – the Georgian Food Locker – manages distribution. Visit GeorgianFoodLocker.com to learn more. In total, eight projects were developed, which focused on awareness and access challenges as they relate to food insecurity. The project became #NOURISH, and the eight projects are now available for communities, individuals and organizations to launch. Visit starvethestigma.ca to learn more. 10 GEORGIANVIEW 2018 COLLEGE CHANGEMAKERS