Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden
Title: Summer at Sankofa
Student Interns:
Corinne Beavers
University of Pennsylvania, School of Social Policy & Practice
Lauren Oh
University of Pennsylvania, School of Dental Medicine
Academic Preceptor:
Johanna K.P. Greeson, PhD, MSS, MLSP
University of Pennsylvania, School of Social Policy & Practice
Abby Quinn Peterson, DMD, MPH
University of Pennsylvania, School of Dental Medicine
Elizabeth Powell, DDS, MPH
University of Pennsylvania, School of Dental Medicine
Community Preceptor:
Ty Holmberg
Sankofa Community Farm at Bartram’s Garden
Community Site:
Located in Southwest Philadelphia, Sankofa is a spiritually centered farm rooted in the African diasporic tradition. Its mission is to connect the Philadelphia community to the land, create opportunities for food sovereignty, and educate the community about cultural crops that are relevant to people of African descent. The farm carries out its mission by serving the people of the West and Southwest Philadelphia community who live in food deserts, where there are no local grocery stores or places to get fresh food.
Team’s Experience:
The Bridging the Gaps student interns at Sankofa focused on preparing foods, harvesting vegetables and fruits, and educating high school interns. One BTG intern supported the cooking crew, assisting with meal preparation for the high school interns and teaching them about various cultural foods and how to prepare them in different ways. The other intern supported the market team, which harvested fruits and vegetables for the Thursday and Saturday markets. Both interns worked together on a health and wellness workshop, a dental presentation, and a lesson on social media use and screen time.
Reflections
“A pivotal moment while working was my interaction with the narrative storytelling project. I interviewed a coworker who had been working at Sankofa since she was 7 years old and who is now 18. Her perspective around her experience at the farm helped me to understand the importance of nature and community spaces and how these spaces can facilitate healing.”
Corinne Beavers
“Like Corinne, a special moment for me was the narrative storytelling project where I interviewed a staff member who had been coming to Bartram’s Garden since she was a little girl, as she used to live in Bartram Village, so the garden was her playground. Hearing about the significance the garden had growing up and then wanting to give back to the youth made me realize how important the work at Sankofa Farm is to the Southwest Philadelphia community.”
Lauren Oh