![\"MayX1\"](\"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/218\/2022\/08\/MayX1-medium.jpg\")
Students getting their hands dirty at Greenbrier Farms.<\/p><\/div>\n
They also devoted four mornings from 8 a.m. to noon to weeding garden beds, planting and picking vegetables, and performing other manual tasks at Greenbrier Farms in Easley. \u201cI wanted the students to see that the production of food can be quite different at a small scale, as opposed to a large industrialized farm,\u201d Dr. Kolb notes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe take for granted that food just shows up in grocery stores,\u201d observes Karlee Bryde \u201917, a business major and a fan of healthy eating. After cutting down small trees with a machete and getting blisters on her hands from stringing wire to support tomato plants, this farm first-timer admits she never thought about the amount of work that goes into growing food. \u201cI definitely gained an appreciation for how hard it is to make a living by farming,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was shocking to learn that Greenbrier earns close to half of their revenue from having events at the farm.\u201d<\/p>\n
A double-major in business and communications, Ivy Loftus \u201918 has little time during the school year to indulge in non-business classes, so Sociology of Food Systems piqued her interest. \u201cMy dad grew up on a farm in Ireland, and he always talked about the value of farming,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
At Greenbrier Farms, she even discovered some new vegetables. \u201cWe picked kohlrabi,\u201d recalls Loftus, who had never before encountered this bulbous cultivar of cabbage (also called a German turnip). \u201cWe were talking in class about people not eating vegetables because they didn\u2019t know how to cook them,\u201d she adds. \u201cI never thought that would apply to me, as I grew up eating lots of fruits and vegetables. But I realized that if someone delivered kohlrabi to my door, I wouldn\u2019t know what to do with it either.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Picking](\"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/218\/2022\/08\/Mayx3-medium.jpg\")
Picking kohlrabi at Greenbriar Farms.<\/p><\/div>\n
A passionate proponent of sustainability as it applies to food, Hagan Capnerhurst \u201917 found the farm experience eye-opening. \u201cWe spent one entire morning digging holes for new fence posts,\u201d says the sustainability science major. Another morning was devoted to weeding rows of beets. \u201cEvery time I closed my eyes, all I could see were beets,\u201d she laughs. For Capnerhurst, the best part of being at Greenbrier was \u201cgetting to the literal roots of the food system\u201d in her conversations with the farmers.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t all work, however. At noon, Greenbrier\u2019s chef prepared a gourmet lunch (barbecue sliders, pork tacos, just-picked salad greens) using meat and produce from the farm. \u201cWe had some amazing meals and got to enjoy the fruits of our labor,\u201d Loftus exclaims.<\/p>\n
Every student took something different away from the experience, but all acknowledge the time, knowledge, and effort involved in raising animals and growing vegetables on a small farm. \u201cUntil you are there, you don\u2019t realize all the details required to run an organic farm,\u201d muses Loftus. \u201cEveryone should experience a farm,\u201d echoes Capnerhurst, who is doing more farm research this summer for her senior thesis. \u201cConsumers need to take a stab at growing food to understand how hard it is.\u201d<\/p>\n
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