Happiness, Resilience and Food, Oh My!
Hello out there! I am so excited to begin my very first blog series! I am hoping by the end of my trip I will be a pro and will have you all waiting anxiously for my next post, but only time will tell.
As most of you are aware by now I will be heading off to the United Kingdom and Denmark for a study abroad trip from June 1 to July 13! I will be traveling with some awesome friends from the School of Sustainability. I wanted to share my experiences along the way so you can be kept updated about the culture, food, happiness, sustainability and all of the links in between that I uncover throughout my visit in these two countries.
During the trip we will be conducting research in the United Kingdom, a country with some of the strongest urban agriculture programs in the world and Denmark, one of the happiest countries in the world. This study abroad program is being led by two faculty members, Scott and Jenny, (who I have worked alongside with before and believe are very smart and inspiring people!) as we inquire into the significance of greenspace (including community gardens and farms) within the urban setting. We will gain a better understanding of the individual, neighborhood and community resilience level while conjointly considering the well-being and happiness aspect of living a healthy life. We will also work with students at local universities to share and present our findings to policymakers and stakeholders.
During our time in these countries we will be traveling to various cities including Copenhagen, Aarhus, Exeter, Bristol and London.
I am so pumped to begin my trip and to learn about the people of these countries. I wonder and hope to discover how their way of living contributes to maintaining their home so unique and lovely and a place to enjoy. I hope to gain insight on food systems I had been naïve to before so I can understand how they could be utilized in our environment here in Arizona or if it would need to be changed to satisfy our needs.
Arizona is my home and I am going to come back with stories, memories and a space-less SD card full of pictures. More so I want to return with ideas and knowledge on how to improve the food related problems we see here in the valley and help make them possible.
For now I will look over my first blog, pat myself on the back and set my alarm clock early because tomorrow is travel day.