Food and Faith at Zumwalt Acres Fellowship
Yale University
Zumwalt Acres is a tract of land in rural Illinois that has been farmed for over 150 years. As of 2020, the youngest generation of that legacy has begun stewardship of the land with a mission that includes regenerative practices, carbon drawdown, and Jewish values. Gavrielle Welbel PM ’22 has spearheaded an apprentice program at the site which aims to provide opportunities to beginning farmers and budding environmental changemakers.
Like the YSFP’s existing Global Food Fellowships, the Food & Faith Fellowship at Zumwalt Acres should be grounded in a guiding question, which seeks to explore ideas that could overturn the ecological, social and economic deficiencies of today’s predominant food systems. Inquiries should engage critically with approach, ethics, and methodology, reflect upon the student’s positioning in the research, acknowledge the context-dependency of the place and topic, and prioritize “principles over recipes” for food systems solutions. Within the proposed framework students are invited to explore interwoven threads of spirituality, both personal and societal. The spiritual component can be practical, intellectual, or both and can be rooted in any faith.
Upon return to Yale, the Fellow(s) will be required to participate in a conversation with peers at Silfka Center about their experience, approach, and the ethical and spiritual questions that surfaced during their time at Zumwalt. Students will also be be invited to share their guiding question as well as their approach and reflections at the YSFP’s weekly Knead 2 Know series at the Yale Farm. Previous fellows have hosted this conversation as a part of a Sukkot gathering, which is not a requirement but a welcomed culmination of the project.
Students must be accepted by the Zumwalt program in order to apply for this funding.