It is easy to talk about saving the planet and helping the environment, but talking is not enough. Many St. Lawrence University (SLU) students are committed to the environment year-round, such as those enrolled in the Sustainability Program.
The Sustainability Program is one way that SLU practices commitment to the environment. According to the Sustainability Program website, it “trains students to become sustainability leaders in their local and global communities…the program fosters an interdisciplinary understanding of sustainability problems and solutions while providing students with hands-on experience of farming and other sustainability practices.”
Nathan Pollack ’20, a student enrolled in the Sustainability Program, said he came to SLU wanting to do a permaculture project and has always had an interest in gardening. “I find it very creative,” he said. He is excited to be making a real difference. “A lot of the classes I’ve taken so far are theoretical, just talking about this stuff instead of doing something…I like creating tangible things,” he said.
Pollack described permaculture as an “agricultural system that tries to mimic nature in both function and structure.” He is “trying to create a farm where all the nutrients are recycled, an almost self-sustaining kind of system,” he said. He also said that permaculture allows the farmer to select what plants they use depending on the unique benefits of each plant.
This project will not only help the environment, but also the community. Pollack wants the permaculture project to be open to the public so that it can have access to sustainable produce. “The current food system subsidizes a lot of other foods, more processed food and it is difficult to purchase more fresh produce,” he said.
The project has other aims. “Another part of the project is to increase the amount of nut trees on campus, replacing these ash trees that are going to be gone in three years with American chestnuts because they are a fairly rare species that are near extinction,” Pollack said. The Emerald Ash Borer is an invasive insect that is killing the ash trees in the area, and they may be gone in a few years, he said. He also said that the American Chestnut is a rare species but a few were discovered in Canton and cultivated. This would allow the American Chestnut a possible resurgence in the area.
Pollack is optimistic about the future of sustainability but also recognizes some obstacles. “I think there is increasing enthusiasm for sustainability and knowledge about food production, specifically individuals want to know specifically where their food comes from,” he said. However, he added that this is a rising trend in the middle and upper class, a majority of the United States is not able to partake for financial reasons. “I don’t believe the United States will ever become truly sustainable in a capitalist society,” he said, saying that the two systems cannot coexist. “Because capitalism is obsesses with profit and production, if it becomes profitable…to become sustainable, they will do it, but there has to be that demand there,” he said.
Aside from private citizens, the government also plays a big role in sustainability in the United States. “The government is not doing any kind of service to sustainability, I don’t think it has for decades,” Pollack said. He expresses that after the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act were put in place, very little sustainable policies have been passed. Additionally, Pollack says there is a “privatization of knowledge” whereby scientists receive federal money for research, but the results of that research is not readily available to the public unless people pay for it. “You may be able to watch that on the local news, if that’s the prerogative of the news channel,” he added.
Another factor in sustainability is media. “Films like ‘Food, Inc.’ have done significantly more to raise awareness than literature…open source media are reaching a much larger audience than any kind of study or book,” Pollack said. “Food, Inc.” is a 2008 documentary about the American corporate food industry.
For the future, Pollack said that there has to be a transition to the lower classes and an “overall mentality moving between yourself and others.” This will make it possible for sustainability to make a larger impact. There is still a lot of work to be done to make that happen. “How can I feed the world with permaculture? I probably won’t figure it out in my lifetime, but hopefully I can do enough work to help others,” Pollack said.