Farms behind bars
Alumna builds farms in prisons for better meals
BY SAIGE KEIKKALA
As a student, have you ever wondered
how your education here at Clackamas
Community College will affect your
future? Finding your future career and
getting started on it is a big topic to
stress over. But CCC alumna Rebekah
Mende has got it figured out.
After two years here at college,
sh e’ s representing our school in
a big way. Out in the world now,
she’s actively working against food
in ju stice in U.S. p en iten tiaries.
Mende originally came from Maine
and travelled to Oregon in search of
more schooling.
“ I just had wanderlust,” Mende said.
“ I was living in Maine. It was one of
those opportunities that happened
at the right time. I wanted to go to
school for horticulture and I Google
searched it and CCC just came up.”
She gained a horticulture degree at
CCC and a masters at Portland State
University.
She said she loved the learning
experience and atm osphere here
on campus. “ I really, really, really
enjoyed my experience at CCC.”
She now works on food rights in
Louisiana prisons, where the need for
her project was greater. Her project
focuses on building farm s to help
inmates and give them better meals.
“ It was a developm ent,” she said.
“ While I was at PSU, I learned about
environm ental justice, w hich are
factors in our environment and how
they affect our communities.”
Mende adm itted her education
from CCC doesn’t apply much in her
career now, but she did mention a
possible project opening up in South
Dakota. She’ d use her schooling
experience here for jobs and events
such as heading community kitchens,
gardens and farmer’s markets.
There are many career opportunities
that the horticulture departm ent
offers including landscaping and
urban agriculture.
“ I just had
wanderlust.”
Rebekah Nende
Landscaping can lead to m any
career choices. Students can work
in areas such as plant h ealth
care, landscaping, garden design,
greenhouse production or start their
own landscaping company.
Urban agriculture is m ore for
people who love getting their hands
dirty. Students can own farm s for
supporting a fam ily or for selling
to markets. Graduates could sell to
restaurants or grocery stores. They
could also participate in community
projects and start school garden
programs.
Renee Harber, the departm ent
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chair of horticulture, is a w inning
advocate of the education. “ It’ s
fantastic for students,” she said. “ I
often tell potential new students
that one of the best things about this
place is the camaraderie. It really is
one of the coolest things about this
program.”
Bruce Nelson, an instructor in
the horticulture departm ent, said
it’s a process that really weeds out
students. “ Some [students] decide
it’ s not for them and move on but
that’s what happens in every field.”
According to Nelson, the school’s
horticulture departm ent has been
around for decades.
“ We’ve been around since the late
sixties, early seventies,” he said.
Nelson mentioned that one of the
cool perks about being in the classes
was the fact students could bring
home plants weekly, depending on
the class.
Harber added, “ One of the really
cool things is w e have 40 grand
in scholarships for horticulture
students. Also, when you get to know
the names of plants, it’s like they are
your friends.”
A cco rd in g to H arber, th e
d ep artm en t seem s to have a
lot o f support and n etw orkin g
opportunities in the local horticulture
industry, which is key for students to
be able to hop into a job right after
graduating.
Clackamas Print OCTOBER 2 8 ,2 0 1 5 theclackamasorint.com 3