Erica

Here’s how I roll. Food is such a fundamental part of people’s lives that if we can effect change in the direction of organic and local foods, there’s nothing we can’t do. I’m young and energized, and I will make something of myself and everyone around me. Dig it.

This is the story of twelve people, organized by the amazing Hart Ford-Hodges, who went to Fairfield, IA the last week of our winter break for a service-learning trip centered on organic, local foods. Over a week, we milked, planted, harvested, cooked, listened, questioned, absorbed, and somehow lived together harmoniously in one house.

My name is Erica Hougland. I’m a second year English major and Gender and Women’s Studies concentrator at Grinnell College. I’m not nearly as involved in sustainable living as others on the trip, so a lot of what we met was completely new to me and towards the end I started to get overwhelmed. I’m not a journalist and I apologize beforehand for factual inaccuracies, misspelled names, and skewed perceptions.