This event is part of the AASHE Award Winner Webinar Series, featuring a presentation of the Campus Sustainability Achievement Award winning project.

In 2016, Palo Alto College launched a survey campaign to identify the most pressing issues for student retention and learning. The results showed that one of the most pressing issues was food insecurity. This concern caused Palo Alto College to partner with the San Antonio Food Bank to address the issue of student hunger with an on-campus food pantry and Community Garden for both students and community members. The neighborhoods surrounding Palo Alto College are considered a “food desert” — an area lacking access to healthy, affordable food found at grocery stores, farmers markets, and healthy food providers. Programming at the garden aims to create a culture of sustainability by including educational components to inform the community about nutrition, gardening techniques, and space is available for community members to grow their own food and increase their food sovereignty. The Community Garden staff have partnered with the Horticulture and Agriculture program to allow students to gain hands-on experiential learning outside of the classroom that prepares them for real-world scenarios.

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Presenters

Jennifer Flores, Director of Student Success, Palo Alto College Jennifer Flores is the Interim Director of Student Success in the Office of Student Life at Palo Alto College (PAC) in San Antonio, Texas. Jennifer has worked in Higher Education for four years and in nonprofit for eleven years. During the time at PAC she has overseen the on-campus Child Development Center where she worked with faculty and staff to incorporate composting, recycling and gardening into the early childhood classrooms. Jennifer also helped bring the Community Garden to fruition by working with faculty, staff, students and community members to open the garden. Additionally, Jennifer has coordinated with the PAC Access, Inclusion, Diversity and Equity committee to implement Social Justice Programming. Jennifer has her Associate’s of Applied Arts and Sciences in Early Childhood Education from St. Phillips College, Bachelor’s of Applied Arts and Sciences in Early Childhood Language and Literacy Studies and Master’s of Art in Education both from the University of Texas at San Antonio.