Pete’s Fruit Market, a neighborhood staple on Milwaukee’s south side, and non-profit CORE/El Centro, have recently been engaging in initiatives to promote nutritious foods and healthy lifestyles to the surrounding community. One of MIAD’s Service Learning students had a role to play in a current project – an urban farm down the block from Pete’s, which raises fruits, vegetables, chickens and honeybees.
Service Learning is a course required of all MIAD students that includes a community service component at a location of the student’s choice. Adam Carter ’16 came into the course in the Spring 2014 semester with a background in landscaping and a major in Industrial Design, both of which would be great assets in his pursuit to assist with the design of the farm to fulfill his service.
Adam ended up creating a design rendering, plan view and PDF presentation of the farm that CORE and Pete’s utilized in a presentation to their donors.
Stephanie Calloway, CORE’s Garden and Nutrition Program Coordinator, who initially made the opportunity available to MIAD students, explained, “When Adam joined the project we had a grass-covered vacant lot, a few organizational partners and a great idea. He helped us to bring the great idea into a tangible vision that we could share with community members at our first Open House. This design was also leveraged to bring in some of the initial funds for the project.”
With the collaborative efforts of all involved, “Pete’s Farm” was actualized and open by June 2014. It currently sells produce at two weekly markets, and community members come out on Wednesdays to pick their own produce. Plans are in the works for more ongoing programming in 2015.
Ultimately, Adam says, “…the best part was finding out that the deliverables I produced exceeded expectations. I really wanted to do something useful for CORE, and to hear that I was successful in that was simply fantastic.”
MIAD is proud to see the participation of one of its students in an endeavor that helps people, the environment, and potentially, advances positive social change.
For more information about the people and organizations involved, check out these links!
Pete’s Farm
CORE/El Centro
MIAD Service Learning
This article was written by Isabel Kent, Academic Service Learning Program Assistant
