On Thursday, February 22nd, I attended the Points of Intervention Tour, sponsored by the Post-Landfill Action Network (PLAN), that ran through the middle of campus on George street. This event is a national tour program to show college students ways that they can live a more environmentally conscious life through reducing their carbon footprints, purchasing and consuming locally grown foods, and challenging the modern, “linear consumption economy”  of extraction, production, distribution, consumption, and disposal. This linear economic system is detrimental to the environment and is not a sustainable way that the economy and the environment can thrive together. The Points of Intervention Tour addressed many of the topics we have been discussing in class, and it was a great experience to see businesses, organizations, and individuals make tangible and realistic efforts to challenge the current social-economical-ecological framework that we are living in.

During my morning spent at the Points of Intervention Tour event, I focused mainly on learning about ways I can purchase and consume locally grown food. This method of intervention focuses on challenging the linear consumption economy through reducing the stress put on the environment to support mass agriculture, reducing the fuel emissions of transporting mass-produced food products, supporting local farmers (and therefore the local economy), and becoming educated on the importance of fresh produce, the production of which does not contribute to pollution, toxins, and chemicals being released into the environment.

One of the businesses that I visited and learned about during this event is the Lowcountry Street Grocery. This business operates out of a retro, covered school bus. They deliver fresh, local produce and dairy products to residents all throughout the Lowcountry by acting as a traveling farmers market. They also deliver nutrition education through cooking demonstrations and informational packets that show consumers the importance of including fresh produce and dairy products into their diets and how they can do so.

The Lowcountry Street Grocery bus that displays fresh, local produce for consumers to purchase.

The Lowcountry Street Grocery truly captured my interest because I support every aspect of their mission. I think it is extremely important to purchase locally grown produce because not only are you supporting the local economy, but you are helping to reduce mass agricultural practices that are not healthy for the environment nor for yourself. I was also glad to hear that the Lowcountry Street Grocery provides nutrition education to customers. Consumers need to be educated in how they can proactively better their nutrition. In a state such as South Carolina, where obesity rates are very high, it is important that people in all areas have access to healthy foods and the knowledge and skills to incorporate them into their diets. In the future, I hope to work as both a pediatrician and a nutritionist, so I think it is especially important that children are exposed to healthy eating and living practices from a young age. The Lowcountry Street Grocery is working to improve the health of people, the economy, and the environment.

I also visited the booth for the College of Charleston’s Office of Sustainability during my morning at the event. I learned about the many actions of the food service on campus, Aramark, in their efforts to reduce food waste source foods responsibly. I learned that Aramark works to plan their menus, produce recipes, analyze portion control and nutrition, and manage waste effectively, all in order to be more environmentally conscious and challenge the linear consumption economy. At the end of my visit with the Office of Sustainability’s table, I was given a basil plant to take home and grow!

Aramark and the Office of Sustainability educate event attendees on their environmental efforts through informational graphics.

The Points of Intervention tour was a very valuable experience to see how companies and individuals are making efforts to challenge the linear consumption economy and improve the economic-social-environmental system. I am glad to live in Charleston, where citizens care about the world that we live in.

More information about the Points of Intervention Tour and the Lowcountry Street Grocery can be found at the following links:

http://www.postlandfill.org/poi-tour/

http://www.lowcountrystreetgrocery.com