Neu Cooks: Recipes from the Neumann Community

In the summer of 2018, Neumann University Library purchased a Community Supported Agricultural farm, or CSA, share. A CSA share, according to Red Hill’s website ,  is when community members can “connect with a local farm and support their local food economy.” Members purchase a farm share and in return receive a weekly supply of produce. Red Hill produces various kinds of fruits and vegetables, and the share contents vary from week to week; we don’t know what we are getting until we pick it up. 

The library had a few goals for the CSA share. First, we wanted to provide students with access to fruits and vegetables that they may have never tried before, or have always wanted to try but have been afraid to. Let's be honest - healthy food can be expensive. For college students, the extra cost of trying to eat healthy can be even more challenging as stress, tuition, and loans begins to pile up. At the library, we are not strangers to student stress and always strive to create programs and experiences to help alleviate at least a small portion of college anxiety.

The bounty from Red Hill Farm arrived on Tuesdays; some vegetables were set out for instant sampling, and the rest remained up for grabs for as long as it took for them to disappear, which usually happened pretty quickly! On Fridays, the rest of the Neumann Community would be invited to select from any remaining abundance; the library staff is very mindful of stewardship and ensuring that nothing goes to waste.

The presence of vegetables in the Library often prompted questions from students and patrons, and that was actually a part of our plan; it's not often you see a pile of vegetables sitting in the front of a library, so plenty of people had questions about it! Library staff were able to explain some of our goals with the farm share and great conversation often ensued; people were often so happy to share their personal food-related experiences  as they were usually tied to warm memories shared with loved ones. The Library staff made new connections with members of our community and also added depth to existing relationships. 

To further support these efforts, the Library staff hosted cooking demonstrations, assorted  contests, and "Farm Fresh Fridays" where recipes using farm share bounty would be made and shared. In addition, the Library created a blog to provide a home base, and record for many of the related recipes and events. Aside from soups, dorm-friendly, and advanced recipes, our blog contains useful glossaries about different vegetables common to the farm share as well as some basic cooking terminology. A small team of Librarians presented a poster about our efforts at an Association of College & Research Libraries Symposium at Baruch College in New York City  and received considerable buzz!

Our efforts related to food experienced a cooling off period during and following the Covid-19 pandemic, but we have slowly been gearing back up; a collaborative recipe contest featuring ingredients from the Kinghts' Pantry, a "Take 5" cooking essentials program, and an "Edible Book" contest are some of the recent projects we have executed or are working on. In the essence of stewardship, our hope is that we can share opportunities and perspectives with Neumann students that they may never have experienced before. Food is necessary fuel for our bodies, and by providing students with access to the right things, we may be opening the doors to a more nutritional lifestyle. 

Keep checking back here for more recipe postings from across campus and follow us on Instagram for information about related contests and programming. Have a recipe you'd like to share or an idea for a program? Contact Tiffany McGregor at mcgregot@neumann.edu

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