On Friday, April 21^st, the Sociology 4000S (Social Science Business Collaborative) class continued its curriculum of learning through community service when its students volunteered a Waterman Farm. The service activity was in support of Maggie Griffin’s UNITY Fridge Project, as Maggie is an Ohio State student who was the recipient of the OSU President’s award, a prestigious funding for service endeavors in support of social change. Read more about Maggie Griffin’s UNITY Fridge project below!

“How I came up with this project is actually interesting. I had been doing a research paper on food security in Columbus. The more I researched, the more furious I became. It seemed unjust that people were suffering due to a lack of access to something so vital as produce. A few weeks after I had written and submitted the paper. My mom sent me a Facebook video about a mobile food cart that took produce around to food deserts to provide access to food. Then, two weeks later I found out about the President's Prize and I began looking at what other projects were currently happening in an effort to reduce food insecurity. I found a project by UC Davis that placed refrigerators in the community with leftover food from the university's dining hall. This led me to develop the UNITY Fridge. Over the next year, we will place refrigerators around the Columbus that will be filled with produce from the plot at Waterman Farm.”

The program selects 5 locations for the refrigerators in the first year. Each location will receive produce bags bi-weekly. Each bag will contain possible recipes for the families that include the produce within the bag. Additionally, commUNITY nights are facilitated where all of the families served by the program are bussed to the garden to show them where their food comes from as well as do a cooking demonstration with the produce they are currently receiving.

Good work, Sociology 4000S students! We are proud of your dedication to community service and interest in social change.