My name is Jennifer and ever since I can remember I have passionately been involved in landscaping and environmental work. I chose to go to the University of Massachusetts to study Landscape Architecture, and to finish my degree at California Polytechnic State University. Although I really enjoyed learning about landscape architecture in school, I didn’t want to pursue a career in it after my college graduation. I decided to travel around South America with a friend, and while there, had the opportunity to work on an organic farm north of Buenos Aires, Argentina. I was excited to learn about different permaculture techniques and the ways people built their life around self-grown organic produce. Since I was already a vegetarian, I was in love with the idea.
I returned back to Connecticut and worked at a landscape architecture firm where I continued to learn about design, space and the way we fit into our environment. However, I still was not satisfied and needed to explore the ways of the world more. I planned a solo trip around the world and found myself planting banana trees in the hills of Thailand and eventually in Tanzania where I helped plant over 1,000 native African trees.
When I returned back to the States, I moved to Washington, D.C. for yet another landscape architecture position. Several months into it I concluded it was not for me and went to work in the Dominican Republic for 6 months. While I was there I had the opportunity to work with impoverished Haitian migrant communities and build community gardens to combat one of their largest problems- hunger. A few months after we planted the gardens, a friend of mine from the community came to me excited and told me about the bounty of vegetables he and his family had to eat. It was at that point when I realized the importance of gardens in people’s lives.
After returning to D.C. for the most recent time, I feel a focus on community and school gardens is imperative. Although our hunger problem is less of an issue in the United States, we are so detached from where our food comes from we can have no appreciation for it. I believe that we can change the way our youth looks at their diet and teach them to be connected to nature, have a greater appreciation food and a better understanding of nutrition.
