Georgian student plants seeds of hope for hungry peers

March 21, 2018

Avery Konda, outgoing president of the Georgian College Students’ Association in Barrie, returned home from a trip to India with a vision – to ensure no student at the college goes hungry.

Through an eight-month entrepreneurial co-op organized by the Henry Bernick Entrepreneurship Centre, the Environmental Technology grad founded Growing Georgian, an on-campus garden that provides students with fresh, locally grown food.

“Food insecurity directly impacts student success in the classroom,” Konda says. “There’s a correlation between having access to healthy food and excelling academically.”

Located at the north end of the Sadlon Centre for Health, Wellness and Sciences at the Barrie Campus, the garden consists of several plots available to the Georgian community for growing a variety of fruit trees, leafy greens and other vegetables.

The college’s on-campus food bank – the Georgian Food Locker – manages distribution.

In recognition of his outstanding efforts, Konda received the 2017 Co-op of the Year Award.