Last Wednesday, to finish off the semester on a heart warming note, we decided to have a picnic/potluck with our whole class! While most didn’t bring anything but their water bottle, there was still more than enough food for everyone to try. Not only was it sustainable, but it was delicious! We had things such as Banh Mi, Homemade Tofu, Homemade Bread, and fun sustainable drinks! My personal favorite drink was the Hibiscus Ginger Beer made by “SOCO Market”. After comparing all of the flavors, that one truly stood out. While the Ginger Beer was delicious, I cant get behind Kombucha. I personally have never liked the taste, but that is more than fine because by the time we left it was all gone!

Not only was this potluck fun, but it was also productive. For the past few weeks, we have been working on our final projects, which are proposals for sustainability on campus. This gave us an opportunity to talk to other groups and see where they were at. Not only was it interesting to hear what other people have learned, but it was also reassuring to hear that we were around the same amount of progress as everyone else. I’m in the group that proposed to make a worm compost in the community garden as a learning opportunity and an opportunity to throw out old foods and newspapers guilt free. It was interesting hearing how the other groups were developing, because unlike us, their topics seemed much broader the first time we heard about them. We heard about how “Transportation” turned into a proposal for a more walkable and appealing street between the parking garage and the coffee shop.

Not only that, we were visited by some surprising guests… that being a whole family of butterflies! They were extremely social, landing on people throughout the picnic and even trying some of the food. Needless to say, they appreciated the tofu. We also learned a bit about the foods that were brought in. Did you know that making your own bread is cheaper, tastier, AND easier than buying it in stores? I know I didn’t. Since this was our last class before presenting projects… it ended up being our last real time together. We ended off on a memorable note, bringing us back to our food sustainability unit earlier in the semester. The potluck and the trip to the farmers market went hand in hand, with the farmers market focus being on locally grown foods, while the the focus of the potluck is sustainable homecooked ones.

Overall, it served as a memorable end to the semester, bringing us together one last time. While it served its purpose to inform us of how good sustainable foods can be, it did much more than that. It brought a beautiful and undoubtedly memorable conclusion to this class. I know I wont forget this semester, and I know no one else will either. If you who are reading this haven’t taken this class, let me end off by urging you to do so.

Cosmo Jannotta