TULANE TALK

October 28, 2011

Good Morning:

http Dat Youth Farm, a Tulane Empowers program, is NCAA eligible.

Representatives from the NCAA visited Grow Dat this week to assess Tulane’s proposal to include “Growing Opportunity” among the official community activities of the 2012 Final Four, which will take place in New Orleans March 31-April 2. Tulane is the Final Four’s host institution.

The NCAA representatives were blown away by their visit and pledged their full support for “Growing Opportunity,” an event in which schoolchildren, Tulane students and community members will plant fruit trees and learn about cultivation, nutrition, environmental stewardship and job opportunities at Grow Dat.

Located on a four-acre site in City Park, Grow Dat gives local high school students employment and invaluable experience in growing, marketing and cooking fresh produce. After school and during the summer, area high school students from diverse backgrounds clear land, till soil and plant crops. It’s hard work supplemented by classes on nutrition and cooking.

Come harvest time, the students reap the fruits of their labor. Then there’s more instruction as students apply math, business and interpersonal skills to sell their produce to local stores. The students also engage in leadership training and community service, preparing meals using their produce for local shelters.

In addition to the NCAA’s recognition, Grow Dat’s “Growing Opportunity” event will be part of Opportunity Nation, a nation-wide bipartisan effort that will be launched Nov. 3-4 from New York. I will tell you more about Opportunity Nation in next week’s Tulane Talk.

In the meantime, I wanted you to know how proud Tulane is to bring such well-deserved recognition to Grow Dat, one of our most important, and fertile, partnerships.

Have a great weekend,